Hogwarts Revisited
by purpleheart72
Summary: Hermione Granger makes the decision to return to Hogwarts for her final year after the Wizarding War has ended. Alone in this decision, she finds herself feeling very out of place until she finds solace with the most unexpected of students...Draco Malfoy.
1. Out of Place

Chapter 1—Out of Place

Hermione Granger stood alone at Platform 9 ¾ as she nervously checked her school trunk to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything. She had missed an entire year of school during the last year of the War, and she felt rusty as she tried to get herself back into "student mode". She had mentioned as much to Harry and Ron; the former just grinned and shook his head at her (although Harry did tend to do that to a lot of the things that she said), while the latter (with his mouth full of food, as usual) said, "Are you crazy, Er-my-knee, when ave you ebber stobbed studying?"

Hermione sighed. Although they were her very best friends, sometimes she felt like they just didn't understand her. Learning was one of the most important things in her life—it always had been, and always would be. She felt the most like herself when she pushed herself to learn something new. It wasn't a chore for her like it was for Harry or Ron; reading was to her what Quidditch was to them. She tried to explain that to them in that very same dinner conversation, but decided it was best to stop as Harry's eyebrows went up so high they threatened to get permanently lost in his hairline, and Ron turned a brilliant shade of purple as he started to choke on his steak and kidney pie.

Apparently it was sacrilegious to compare _anything_ to Quidditch.

She decided that she was finally done with checking her trunk. If she had left any books behind, she could always send an owl to her Mum and Dad who would make sure that she would get anything that she needed. They were very proud of her for making the decision to finish school. They had been worried that perhaps she would follow Harry and Ron's suit and decide to go to work with them instead of finishing school. Hermione could have told them that _that_ would never happen. School was much too important to her and besides, she didn't want to be an Auror. She still hadn't decided just what she wanted to do; all she knew was that she wanted to make a difference in the world, and in her opinion, Hogwarts was the best place to figure out how to do just that.

Thinking about Hogwarts made her even more nervous. _What if I don't know anybody in my classes? _she silently wondered. _I don't know how many from our year decided to go back to Hogwarts and finish…and besides,_ she continued, _it will be so strange without Harry and Ron by my side. We went through everything in school together—in fact, I can't think of a single school memory that doesn't include them! _

Hermione felt her mood start to shift towards panic mode, when she was interrupted with a "Hi, Hermione!"

She looked up to see herself face to face with Ginny Weasley. _Of course,_ Hermione thought, feeling quite foolish. Not only would Ginny be there, they were now in the same year, being as Ginny had never actually left school and Hermione had.

Ginny hugged her. "Do you need some help with those trunks? Don't tell me that you have a trunk just for your books!" Ginny laughed.

Hermione grinned at her. "The bigger trunk, naturally. And yes, I could definitely use some help, thanks."

As they got settled on the train, Ginny started chatting animatedly about Luna, Neville, all their old friends, speculating about who would be coming back this year and who wouldn't. Hermione smiled politely, but didn't really add much to the conversation. Ginny's talk was actually making her even more nervous. _I guess the War has affected me more than I realized,_ Hermione thought. _Hearing all of these names is really making me feel, for lack of a better term, homesick. I wish it could just go back to way it was before the war!_ she silently quailed, knowing all the time what a childish thought it was. _You can never go back,_ she chided herself. _Make new memories and move on—that's all you can do._

"Hermione!" Ginny had surprised her out of her silent reverie. "Don't you have to report to the front of the train? You're Head Girl; don't you have to organize the prefects, or something?"

"Merlin! You're right. Where's my brain? I'll see you later Ginny, I've got to get going!" Hermione threw on her school robe (it already had the Head Girl badge attached to it, freshly polished) and quickly hurried to the front of the train.

As she passed car after car, she couldn't help but notice just how _young_ everyone looked. She started to feel even more out of place. Kids all around her were chatting happily, eating sweets, playing games of Exploding Snap or even sleeping, but Hermione felt ages older than everyone that she passed on the train. Even the few classmates that she recognized from her year: Parvati and Padma Patil were sitting together, gossiping with a few other girls Hermione didn't know well, while Padma braided her sister's hair. It all looked so frivolous to Hermione—_Couldn't they do something more constructive with their time?_ she thought. _So many had been killed, how can you just sit there, speculating about if What's-His-Name is going to owl you or not?_ But then again, she remembered, the Patil twins hadn't seen what she had. Their parents had pulled them out of school shortly after Dumbledore had been killed in their 6th year, and had gone into hiding. They had been sheltered and hadn't seen much at all.

_Maybe coming back was a mistake,_ Hermione thought. Of those who had come back to complete their 7th year, Hermione seemed to be the only one who had seen true War. And those who had been there for the Final Battle had all (as far as she could tell) opted to go to work and stay with their families (as Harry and Ron had). A few of them had even started families of their own—there had been quite a few marriages after the War, and many of her friends were engaged now as well.

As she passed car after car, Hermione remembered the past week she had spent with her parents before returning to school. It was the first time she had spent alone from Harry and the Weasleys (and from the wizarding world in general). She had needed some time alone to process everything that had happened in the past year. She, Harry and Ron had been through so much in such a short amount of time, and had seen more deaths than she cared to remember. Unfortunately, being around Harry and the Weasleys was a constant reminder: Fred was gone, Lupin, Tonks, Moody, Dobby…too many, far too many. At her parents' house, however, it was quiet. They knew what she had gone through, but gave her solitude to process and grieve. She had the personal space she just couldn't get in the overcrowded Weasley home. She remembered one morning where she must have spent at least an hour staring at her reflection in the bathroom mirror—she just couldn't believe how _old_ her eyes looked. She almost felt as if the reflection she was looking at was a stranger.

That's what the problem was, Hermione thought as she entered the car where all the prefects and the Head Boy stood, awaiting her arrival. I haven't seen anyone here with eyes like that. Not even Ginny—although she had been there for the final battle and had lost a brother, Ginny had still spent most of that year at Hogwarts because she was underage and had still been sheltered, to an extent, by the rest of the Weasley clan. Ginny's eyes changed from time to time, but they weren't quite what Hermione saw staring back at her whenever she looked in the mirror.

Then she found them. A pair of silver-blue eyes met hers through the small crowd, reflecting back the hollow, slightly deadened look that only can be created by being at the front line of a great wizarding War. Eyes that looked centuries older than what they actually were because they had seen Great Loss. Hermione felt a shiver run down her spine and her heart swell in sympathy. _Thank Merlin. Someone who knows exactly how I feel. _

Malfoy.


	2. An Unexpected Conversation

Chapter 2—An Unexpected Conversation

It felt good to be back in the Great Hall. As she started on her dinner (with a copy of _Hogwarts, A History_ propped up in front of her—it never hurt to brush up on things), Hermione felt herself start to relax. Dinner hadn't started out so smoothly, however. There were so many changes to Opening Ceremonies that Hermione had no idea what to expect. First of all, there was no Sorting. Not that _that_ was surprising, after all that had happened in the final battle…she couldn't even remember what happened to the Sorting Hat after Neville had pulled the Gryffindor sword out of it. Had it gotten lost? Who knew?

Being as there was no Sorting, the students just sat wherever they liked. Most tables were now mixed, although Hermione did notice that the former Slytherins mostly kept to their own table. One slight exception seemed to be Draco Malfoy. Although he did still sit at the Slytherin table, he opted to sit at the very foot of it, alone. He also managed to do so in a manner that made it very obvious to all that he preferred to keep it that way. He had spread his books and belongings all around him forming a barrier of paraphernalia, and mostly kept his head down, hunched over some magazine. When he did look up occasionally, it was to glare at some student who had obviously gotten too close.

Instead of a Sorting, the evening had begun with the Headmistress' speech. Professor McGonagall has taken up the post for one year only, in order to get the new regime running smoothly before stepping down into a peaceful retirement. Announcements had been made about some of the new rules (no more House points, being as there were no more Houses), and introductions of the new prefects and of course, the new Head Boy and Head Girl. Michael Corner, formerly of Ravenclaw, had been awarded Head Boy. Hermione supposed that was a good choice; surprisingly, she didn't care as much as she thought she would. Ginny had actually seemed more interested than she had, probably because Ginny had dated him for a while back in her fourth year. When the announcement had been made, Hermione glanced over at Ginny, who had rolled her eyes, then grinned. Hermione stifled a giggle, and then actually ended up having to cover her mouth when she had caught Malfoy out of the corner of her eye pretending to vomit all over his magazine.

After all the unfamiliarity of the Opening Ceremonies, it was wonderful to see Malfoy acting like such a _Slytherin_. It was a constant in an all too rapidly changing world.

Dinner had finally ended and Hermione had opted to direct all the First Year girls to their dormitories while Michael did the same with the First Year boys. Wanting to keep busy, she took extra time to make sure all of the students were settled, and ended up not finishing until about a half hour before curfew. At this point, most of the students were all in their rooms, getting set up and also getting in some last minute socializing before lights out. Hermione found herself patrolling an empty hall, mainly as an excuse to have some time to herself. There had been a lot of changes to get used to this evening, and she didn't feel much like socializing at the moment.

Out of the silence came a long, heavy sigh. "I guess there's nowhere in this school anymore where you can go to be alone. It's like every room's fair game as a common room now. Ridiculous."

Hermione turned around. Malfoy was glaring at her with his hands in his pockets. She blinked at him in surprise, realizing that what would once have been a very annoying remark to her, now sounded almost amusing. She found herself almost smiling in response. "Is that what you've been doing all night, looking for a place to hide?"

The silver eyes narrowed menacingly. "I don't blame you," she continued hastily, "I've been doing pretty much the same thing."

Malfoy stared at her for a minute. This seemed to be the first civil conversation that they had ever had, and he seemed to be temporarily at a loss. Irrationally, Hermione wanted to keep it going. For some unknown reason, she was comfortable in his company and reluctant to see him leave. "It's hard to come back, isn't it?" she ventured.

Malfoy continued to stare at her. "Yeah," he said after what seemed to be an eternity. "Yeah it is." Hermione ventured a small smile; Malfoy's eyes went to the floor. After another minute Hermione heard him say, "Corner's a prat. Thinks he's Ravenclaw's gift to Hogwarts. My owl's got more sense than him."

Hermione giggled. "Yes, I noticed your welcoming response to the Head Boy announcement at dinner." She found herself grinning at him.

Malfoy's eyes remained on the floor. At least he wasn't insulting her…although he was insulting someone else. _I guess he wouldn't be Malfoy if he wasn't insulting somebody,_ Hermione thought. He looked up at her again. "So…returning to Hogwarts and Head Girl to boot? Thought you'd take off with Potter and Weaselby instead of coming back."

Malfoy had actually decided to keep this conversation going! "No…I wanted to finish school. Get my N.E.W.T.s and such." And then she found herself adding, "And I think I needed to get away from everyone for a while, too."

The silvery-blue eyes relaxed, as if recognizing a fellow comrade. He nodded. "Yeah. Me too." And then he was gone.


	3. Trouble Brewing

Chapter 3—Trouble Brewing

Hermione was exhausted. It was her first day of classes and she was running on about two hours of sleep. She had been up most of the night vacillating between worrying about schoolwork and reflecting on her conversation with Malfoy. For the first time, they had had a civil conversation and she had actually enjoyed it. Not that it mattered at the moment, however. If she didn't hurry, she was going to be late for Potions.

By the time she reached the classroom, most of the students were already there. She was going to have trouble finding a seat. She felt a pang of sadness because Harry and Ron weren't there to save her a seat, to share a table with. Most of the faces there were barely familiar to her and she didn't know where to go.

Then a movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Malfoy was sitting in the back of the class at a table, alone. He had slid his bag off of the seat next to him, which was just to her left. He wasn't looking at her, his head was down, but at least he wasn't giving her the "back off" glare that he had been giving everyone else.

An invitation from Malfoy? Stunned, Hermione sat down. She looked at Malfoy for a moment, but he seemed to be too preoccupied with doodling in his notebook to notice. Hermione shrugged and opened up her bag and started unpacking her supplies.

Professor Slughorn had entered the classroom. Being as it was a N.E.W.T. year, he informed the class, there was a great deal of theory that needed to be reviewed before beginning more advanced Potion work. He began to lecture at great length about a few pertinent Potion theories, tapping the blackboard with his wand to reveal a few pages worth of notes.

Hermione began to scribble furiously with her quill, but then realized that she already had most of the material mastered in the study time she had taken during her stay at her parents' house before coming back to school. _Do I recopy it again?_ she wondered.

Just then, a paper slid in front of her. It was a fairly accurate rendition of Slughorn depicted as a huge walrus, with a balloon coming out of his mouth that said, "BLAH, BLAH, BLAH".

Hermione snorted. Her hands flew over her mouth as she felt dozens of eyes on her, including Professor Slughorn's. "Is there a problem, Miss Granger?" he asked.

Hermione felt her face turn bright red. "Oh, no Professor, just clearing my throat." She saw Malfoy smirking out of the corner of her eye. Mortified, she quickly put her head down and dutifully started to copy the notes on the blackboard.

And then it happened. Malfoy cleared his throat quietly, just loud enough to get her to look up, and tapped the paper with his wand. The Walrus-Slughorn drawing began to move, breaking into some insane sort of burlesque dance number, complete with a mind-boggling, tail wiggling finale.

Hermione, unable to stop herself, broke into a fit of giggles.

"Enough!" shouted Slughorn. "Accio Paper!" To her horror, the paper flew across the room into Slughorn's waiting hand. "So, Mr. Malfoy, is this how you choose to utilize your time in my class?" Malfoy simply glared back at him, saying nothing and insolently chewing on the end of his quill. "And Miss Granger, I am surprised at you. I would have never expected this from a Head Girl."

Hermione wanted to sink into the floor. She couldn't think of a thing to say to rectify the situation. She wished she were somewhere, _anywhere _else but right there, right now.

"The two of you see me after class. Detention." And with that, Professor Slughorn turned back to the board and continued to lecture.

At the end of the day, Hermione furiously trudged back to her dormitory. She wanted to kill Malfoy. It was her first day of classes as Head Girl and she already had a detention to her name. Could you lose your Head Girl badge for that? she wondered.

She threw her bag onto the bed with such force that Ginny looked up. "Are you okay? What happened?" she asked Hermione.

"I have detention and it's all Malfoy's fault!" she cried.

"_Malfoy?_ What did he do now? Why'd he even bother coming back to school anyway?" Ginny wrinkled her nose.

Hermione understood very well why he had come back, but she didn't want to get into explaining that to Ginny. Instead, she described what had happened in class, finishing with a detailed description of the Walrus-Slughorn dance number.

Ginny seemed puzzled that Hermione had voluntarily sat next to Malfoy in class, but when Hermione got to the part with the dancing walrus, she let out a reluctant giggle. "That _is_ pretty funny—I probably would've laughed too. Slughorn's a git for giving you detention, though; you didn't really do anything."

"Yes I did," Hermione said. "I laughed right out loud in the middle of class, I wasn't taking notes like I was supposed to…in short, I wasn't acting at all like a Head Girl. It was really stupid of me; I can't believe I acted that way. I hope I don't lose my Head Girl badge for this."

"Hermione! After all that you, Harry and Ron have done, the least they can do for you is award you Head Girl! If they ever take that badge away from you, I'll eat my jumper."

Hermione gave her a small smile. "I guess you're right. But this day has been such a mess! I just want it to be over."

"And now you have to spend a detention with Malfoy. Bummer." Ginny put a consoling arm around Hermione's shoulders. "But you can do it. You've gotten through worse."

Hermione sighed. That was most definitely true. But that didn't mean that she'd have to like it.


	4. Detention for Two

Chapter 4—Detention for Two

Hermione finished her homework—or more accurately, finished studying and reorganizing her notes. It was the first day back to classes, and there really wasn't much homework given out by the teachers just yet. Realizing that she had a free hour, she decided to take the time to write some letters to Harry and Ron.

She wrote to Harry first, mainly because it was always easier to write to Harry. Just general details about all of the changes at Hogwarts, that she was doing just fine, all her new responsibilities as Head Girl, and of course, details about Ginny because she knew that that was what Harry wanted to read about the most.

Writing to Ron, however, was never as easy. She always seemed to agonize over every detail that she included in a letter to him, often rewriting and revising several times. Plus, she always tended to write him longer letters…especially now, after all that had happened between them during the War. Although they were still a bit shy and awkward around each other, they seemed to have an unspoken understanding that they were now boyfriend and girlfriend.

She started out her letter to Ron much like her letter to Harry, but after the first paragraph she found herself writing everything that she had been feeling and holding back since she had boarded the Hogwarts Express. All the loneliness, how out of place she felt, and mostly how much she missed him all spilled out of her quill and turned into a very long and emotional letter. Quickly, before she changed her mind about sending it, she took both letters immediately to the School Owlery and sent them off.

On the way back from the Owlery, Hermione realized that it was time for dinner to be served in the Great Hall. She sighed. There would be no time to visit the library tonight. After dinner she would have to report to Slughorn's office along with that git Malfoy to serve her…_detention_. She was still so annoyed about it that she had a hard time even thinking the word.

Dinner had been a preoccupied affair. Hermione spent most of the time brooding about the letter she had sent to Ron and wondering if she hadn't just made a colossal mistake. She finally came to the conclusion that he _was_ her boyfriend and if she couldn't tell him her innermost thoughts and feelings, then what exactly were they doing together? And just maybe this letter would show him that he could be more open with her, too. She was very interested to see what his response would be.

Unable to eat another bite, Hermione got up from the table and headed towards the doors to the Great Hall. She noticed that Malfoy was just outside the doorway, leaning casually against the wall. As she passed him, she heard a voice at her ear. "You ready?"

Apparently he had waited for her in order to go to Slughorn's office together.

His show of solidarity took the edge off of her anger at him. "Yes," she answered. "I suppose so." They walked to Slughorn's office in silence. Hermione was again struck by the fact that she found his presence to be oddly comforting. She didn't have to pretend to feel a certain way around him, she didn't even have to talk to him if she didn't want to—it was strangely liberating.

Finally, they reached Slughorn's office, and apparently the Professor was still mightily perturbed about being compared to a walrus. Malfoy's animated drawing was on Slughorn's desk, still dancing away while Slughorn berated the two of them for a while about their "immature behavior", and "I would have expected more from Seventh Years and a Prefect and Head Girl, no less", and of course, "After all that has happened in the past year, _this_ is how far you've come"? As disconcerted as she was, Hermione had to bite her lip to keep from smiling at the non-stop dancing Walrus-Slughorn during the entire scolding.

Hermione managed to keep her head down and look as contrite as possible, Malfoy managed to look slightly less bored than usual (she supposed that was his attempt to make amends), and finally Professor Slughorn seemed to run out of steam. "Yes, well, since you are both accomplished students_ most of the time_, I thought it best to utilize this time by having the two of you take inventory in the Potions Ingredient Room. Being such precise work, there will be no opportunity for your minds to be idle, and at least this way you can contribute something positive to the class."

Hermione was mortified. Up until now she had always been one of Slughorn's favorite students, being the best student of her year. And on top of it all, inventory! There were _hundreds_ of ingredients in the Potions room; it could take days to finish.

Slughorn tapped the paper with his wand as he swept out of the room and Hermione watched the picture turn to ashes. "Damn," Malfoy muttered. "I was going to add some back-up dancers to that drawing. Maybe McGonagall and Flitwick as penguins or something."

Hermione glared at him. "Don't you ever quit? We have enough work to do without you making it worse." She went through the door to the Ingredient Room with Malfoy following close behind.

"Hey, I didn't hold a wand to your head to make you laugh, you know," he shot back.

Hermione felt her temper rise and silently counted to ten. "Let's just get this done as quickly as we can." She handed him a quill and parchment. "I'll count the stores and you write them down."

"Whatever you say; _you're_ Head Girl," Malfoy bowed mockingly at her.

Hermione sighed. This was going to be a long night.


	5. Speaking and Sleeping

Chapter 5—Speaking and Sleeping

Hermione and Malfoy had been working in relative silence for about two hours, the only words spoken were things such as, "five ounces of Prickly Ash," and "check". The work had gotten so tedious that finally Malfoy sat down and tossed his quill and parchment onto the nearest shelf. "Okay, Granger, enough. I need a five minute break; my head hurts from all this two ounces of Wormwood, eight ounces of Orris Root crap."

Hermione gave him a reproving look, but she was secretly glad he suggested a break. The work was tedious and overwhelming. It was a job for six people, not two. She sat down on a crate and rubbed her eyes. "How far along are we, anyway?" she asked.

"Five minute break, Granger—that means break, not continue to talk and plan what the hell it is we're supposed to do."

"Okay, fine," she huffed. They sat in silence for a minute or two. Hermione was watching a small spider creep across the floor when she felt an odd sensation. She looked up to see Malfoy's eyes on her. "What?" she asked him.

"You have shadows under your eyes," he began.

"Oh, thanks loads." She rolled her eyes at him.

He sighed. "No; I mean, I don't remember you having them. At least not before…you know…"

She knew. Before the War. She looked up at him. "You have them too," she ventured.

He grimaced. "Yeah, well, I don't sleep very well. Not anymore, anyway."

She nodded. "Me either. Sometimes I don't want to sleep because I don't want to…" her voice trailed off, but she could tell that he knew what she was thinking: …_I don't want to see it all over again in my nightmares._

They were both quiet for a few minutes. Hermione got the impression that Malfoy wanted to talk about the War with her—perhaps he needed to vent to someone who he thought might understand. She realized that she did too. "What was it like?" she asked quietly.

"What?"

"Living with the Death Eaters and…Voldemort. Being constantly surrounded by it all."

He was surprised by the question, the interest. He leaned back on his crate and took a deep breath. "It was like…forgetting who I was. What I thought or said had no significance whatsoever. It was just what I could do for them, what use I could be. And as soon as I ran out of uses, I would be eliminated. I couldn't let my guard down for one second. People around me were constantly getting executed, usually for everybody else's amusement. I saw people die in ways I never thought possible…" his voice trailed off when he noticed that a tear was silently running down Hermione's cheek. "Sorry," he muttered, looking down.

"No, please…go on," Hermione said, wiping her face. "Believe it or not, I was actually relieved."

"Relieved? Why?"

"To know that I'm not the only one here who knew what it was really like."

They continued to talk back and forth, the old experiences spilling out like pus from a wound. As one story ended, another began—this went on and on until they heard the signal that it was close to curfew and they would have to head back to their dormitories. Hermione gathered up the parchment—they had barely gotten halfway through inventory—and went to Professor Slughorn to inform him of their progress. They would have to return tomorrow night in order to finish.

They walked back to the dormitories in silence. Hermione realized that they had passed the entrance to the former Slytherin common room; apparently Malfoy was walking her back to her dormitory. She decided not to comment on it and just enjoy the companionable silence.

She stopped. They had finally reached the Fat Lady's portrait. "Well, here's my stop." She felt awkward for the first time in his presence that evening. He was just looking at her with his hands in his pockets. "Okay, um…goodnight," she added lamely.

Malfoy gave her a tiny smirk and reached out and gave a gentle tug on the end of one of her curls. "Goodnight, Granger. Sleep well."

Oddly enough, she did.

The next day began much more smoothly for Hermione, mainly because she was rejuvenated from a good night of sleep. She also had her favorite class that day, Arithmancy. During class, she felt like she finally hit her stride again as a student: had they still been awarding House Points, she would have won Gryffindor at least thirty points with the amount of work that she has accomplished during that period. After class, she decided to use her free half hour before lunch to stop at the library and check up on some advanced Arithmancy texts.

Entering the library was like coming home; she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She loved the smell of old books—it was a soothing smell to her, much like fresh parchment or (she blushed at the thought) Ron's hair. I wonder if I'll get a response from my letter to him today, she thought. She started to head towards the Arithmancy section.

As she passed one of the tables, she noticed Malfoy sitting alone with his feet up on the table, staring out the window. His bag was on the seat next to him, but there wasn't a book in sight. What was he doing in the library? Not reading, obviously. She walked up behind him and cleared her throat.

Malfoy didn't bother to turn around. "I know it's you, Granger," he said.

"How did you know?"

"Because only a nerd or a weirdo would come to the library during free period on only the second day of classes." He looked over his shoulder and smirked at her. "Sleep well?"

She didn't take offense to the insult because, after all, he was in the library too. "Yes, as a matter of fact," she said. "You?"

He nodded, looking back out the window. "Yeah, as a result it put me in a good enough mood to actually attend class and almost pay attention," he drawled.

She grinned; she couldn't help it. "Careful, Malfoy, you might just start to live up to being a Prefect." She saw another smirk flit across his face. "As for me," she continued, "I have some books to find." She turned away.

"See you later, Granger," he added as she walked away.


	6. A Class Spectacle

Chapter 6—A Class Spectacle

During lunch, the owls swept through the Great Hall for mail delivery. She managed to catch a letter addressed to her before it fell into her bowl of soup. This must be a response from Ron! Excitedly, she tore the letter open.

It was from Harry. Slightly disappointed (though she was still quite happy to hear from Harry), she read on. Harry was very excited about the work he was doing in the Ministry of Magic. Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Minister of Magic under the new regime, was relying heavily on Harry and Ron to help him totally revamp the Auror department. There were lots of exciting changes going on, which he told her about in detail. Hermione was impressed. Typically, Harry would write often, but she wasn't used to getting quite so long a letter from him. He was obviously very happy with his new job. He finished up the letter by asking her lots of questions about all the changes she had written him concerning Hogwarts, and of course, asked for more news about Ginny.

Hermione folded up the letter, slipped it in the pocket of her school robe and smiled. It helped a lot to hear from Harry—it reminded her that there were plenty of people behind her; just because they weren't with her at Hogwarts didn't mean that they didn't care about her.

But why hadn't Ron written back? He wasn't always the best letter writer—often, she would get a lot of notes about Quidditch that bored her to tears, but she always could depend on a letter from him. Many times they had set plans into motion about how to rescue Harry from the Dursleys each summer by writing each other almost constantly. Why would Harry write her back and not Ron? _Maybe it's because his letter's going to be even longer than Harry's,_ she hoped.

Ginny set a tray down next to Hermione and slid into the seat next to her. "Hey, guess what?" she asked Hermione. "I've been made Quidditch captain!" she blurted out before Hermione could answer.

"Ginny, that's great! Wait'll I tell Harry; he'll be thrilled." Hermione beamed at her.

Ginny blushed. "You think so?"

"I know so. I just got a letter back from him and he asked me for more details about you."

"He did?" Ginny grinned. "And I already sent him a letter, too. So, what did my brother have to say?"

"That's a good question. I haven't heard from him yet." Hermione's brow furrowed.

"You will. Complete with a play-by-play commentary of the latest Chudley Cannons game, no doubt."

Hermione groaned. "No doubt," she agreed.

After lunch, Hermione headed to her next class, Transfiguration. As she entered the class, she recognized lots of familiar faces—both Patil twins were there, sitting at a table with a couple of other girls. Parvati caught her eye and waved her over. Hermione smiled back, but hesitated. She wasn't sure if she wanted to sit at a table full of giggling gossipers. Other students started to pile into the classroom around her, and as she moved over to the side to let them pass, Malfoy's eyes caught hers. He was sitting alone (naturally) at a table off to the side. Once again, he pulled his bookbag off of the seat next to him in a silent invitation.

Before Hermione realized what she was doing, she walked over to his table, dropped her bag on it and sat down in the seat next to him. Parvati and Padma's eyes widened in shock and they turned to the other girls and started whispering furiously.

_Merlin's pants!_ Hermione thought. _Why did I just do that? Now word of this will spread around the school like Fiendfyre. And this is also how I got into trouble the first time._ _Well,_ she promised herself,_ it won't happen again. _

It didn't. Other than being the subject of gossip, class ran quite smoothly for Hermione. Malfoy was a good partner; they mostly worked together in silence, and good to his word, he actually did manage to (in his own words) "almost pay attention".

As they were packing up their things, Hermione could feel the Patils' eyes (along with several others) darting between her and Malfoy in excited confusion. She decided it would be best to get out of there as quickly as possible. However, Malfoy had other ideas. "So, Granger, what class do you have next?"

_Not small talk! Not now!_ she silently quailed. "Charms," she mumbled.

"Me too. Let's get going." And with that, Malfoy picked up her bookbag and swung it over his free shoulder.

Hermione's mouth fell open, along with half of the girls in the class who happened to be watching. She couldn't have been more shocked if someone had told her that McGonagall decided to turn Hogwarts into a Muggle amusement park. She would have refused, but Malfoy was already starting to head out the door with her books. She hurried to keep up.

She caught up to him around the corner. They were now in a relatively empty hallway. "What did you do that for?" she hissed. "Now everybody thinks there's something going on between us!"

Malfoy continued to walk down the hall. It seemed that they were taking the back way to Charms, which would be consistent with his anti-social tendencies. He was grimacing as he walked. "Those girls always drove me up the wall. I just wanted to give them something else to talk about, I guess. I got sick of hearing, _'Ooooh, so-and-so's going to ask me to_ _go to Madam Puddifoot's with him next weekend!' "_ he finished with a high-pitched, accurate imitation of Parvati's squeal.

"Okay, fine, but do you have to always drag me down with you?" Hermione countered.

"Hey, Granger, nobody's forcing you to sit next to me, you know."

Hermione grimaced. It was useless to argue; he did have a point. Besides, he still had her bookbag and she wanted to make sure that she got it back.

Finally, they reached the Charms classroom. Thankfully, Ginny was in that class too so Hermione could finally sit with someone who wasn't going to give her any more problems. Unfortunately, Parvati, along with two of her friends from Transfiguration also happened to be in that same class. Hermione turned to Malfoy. "I'd like to sit with Ginny," she said in as dignified and as formal a manner as she could manage.

Malfoy raised an eyebrow at her. "Knock yourself out," he said and handed her bag to her.

Hermione made a beeline to the seat next to Ginny before Malfoy decided to follow her, although she doubted that he would. Ginny turned to her, wide eyed. "What," she emphasized, "is going on? I would have never believed you were sitting with Malfoy and letting him carry your books if I hadn't just seen it with my own eyes!"

Obviously, the news had traveled to the Charms classroom ahead of her and Malfoy. Damn that Parvati! "I-don't-want-to-talk-about-it-right-now," Hermione said through clenched teeth. "Not-in-front-of-an-_audience_. Besides," she added in a lower voice, "believe it or not, I'm just as surprised as you are."

Ginny looked at her, nodded slowly and began to unpack her books. Relieved that Ginny was going to accept her explanation—for now—Hermione put the entire mess behind her and prepared to focus on getting some much desired classwork done.


	7. A Temporary Truce

Chapter 7—A Temporary Truce

Hermione managed to escape to her room after class with a minimal amount of interference—luckily, Ginny got tied up with a few of the members of her Quidditch team, so Hermione didn't have to immediately explain the…_Malfoy situation_. For once in her life, she wasn't in the mood to do homework. She needed to vent. Before she could think about it too much, she pulled out a quill and piece of parchment and wrote another long letter to Ron, telling him all about what happened, what a git Malfoy was and again, how much she missed him. Writing it all down made her feel better, and it helped to know that Ron would be involved in what she was going through. She smiled as he imagined his response: _"That_ _slimy little ferret! I'll jinx him so hard, his kids'll be cross-eyed!"_

She also wrote a shorter response to Harry, telling him how impressed she was with his new duties, and also about Ginny making Quidditch captain. She briefly mentioned that Malfoy was being his usual annoying self, but didn't go into too much detail because she had run out of time. Dinner would be served in the Great Hall in a few minutes. She had just enough time to make it down to the Owlery and send out her letters beforehand.

Ginny was waiting for her at one of the tables in the Great Hall when Hermione got back from the Owlery. She didn't even give Hermione a chance to eat. "_Now_ will you tell me what is going on?" she pressed.

Hermione took a big bite of her mashed potatoes, just so she could avoid answering for a few more seconds. Finally, she cleared her throat. "Nothing's going on. I made the mistake of sitting next to Malfoy again in Transfiguration, and—"

"Why would you do that again when it got you detention last time?" Ginny interrupted. "And for that matter, why in the world did you sit next to him yesterday, anyway?"

Hermione sighed. "Like I said, it was a mistake. Anyway, nothing happened in Transfiguration; we just sat there and did classwork…and then when class ended, he decides to give Parvati & friends a show by carrying my books to Charms!"

Ginny's eyes narrowed. "That," she said, "is totally bizarre. If you ask me, he's up to something. You'd better stay away from him for now on."

"I can't," Hermione moaned. "I have to serve detention with him _again_ tonight!"

Ginny gave her a sympathetic look. "Well, eat. You'll need your strength."

Hermione glowered at her plate. Her appetite was ruined.

After dinner, Malfoy was once again waiting for her outside the Great Hall. She glared at him and began to walk to Slughorn's office.

"What, are you still miffed about those stupid girls and their big mouths?" she heard from behind her.

Hermione whirled around to face him. "I don't want anyone saying anything about me that's not true!" she hissed. "Besides, I have a boyfriend and I don't think he'd appreciate what's being said about us right now!"

"Oh, boo hoo," Malfoy mocked. "Granger, I would think that after what you've been through, you'd be at the point where you wouldn't let stupid crap like that get to you anymore." He was referring to their discussion last night during detention.

Remembering that took the wind out of her sails. Hermione sighed. "Well…" she admitted, "I guess that's why I didn't sit with them in the first place."

Malfoy said nothing and they walked to Slughorn's office in silence.

Without much ceremony, they immediately went to work on inventory, intending to get as much work done as possible. There would be no long discussions tonight because neither Hermione nor Malfoy had any intention of spending another night completing this task. It was, however, different than the night before. There was a bit more camaraderie between them as they worked. Occasionally, Malfoy would suggest using a specific ingredient on a student ("Hemlock, eh? We should save some of this for Parvati—tell her it's love potion") and Hermione would often reply in kind ("Nah, too easy—we should give her something that would make all of her hair fall out instead"). The relaxed interchanges between them made it possible for them to work consistently throughout the evening, finally finishing shortly before curfew.

Exhausted, they walked back to the dormitories together. Again, Malfoy seemed to be walking Hermione back to her dormitory first. She appreciated the thoughtful gesture, but didn't remark upon it. She didn't want to make him feel awkward.

They were almost at the Fat Lady's portrait when Hermione slapped a hand to her face. "Merlin! I forgot to study tonight!" she exclaimed.

"Oh no, now the world's going to come to an end—Granger hasn't spent half of her life studying!" Malfoy gasped in mock horror.

"No, really; I went back to my room after Charms and I ended up writing letters to Ron and Harry, but I completely forgot to study! I'm going to have to pull an all-nighter in order to catch up." Hermione's mind was racing with the amount of work she had to do.

Malfoy sighed. "Granger," he took hold of her by the shoulders and spun her to face him. His touching her was unexpected and it disconcerted Hermione even more. "The only classes you had that you didn't get to prepare for were Transfiguration and Charms, right? Well, I had those with you and the only homework we were given in both classes was to practice and review theory, both of which you knew inside out. Hell, Flitwick even had you demonstrating for the rest of the class in Charms! Now for crying out loud, will you give yourself a break for once and try to get another good night's sleep?"

Hermione was speechless. This was so unexpected that all she could do was look into his silver-blue eyes and nod. Why would he care? "Okay then," he said and dropped his hands. _Thank Merlin,_ she thought. _Now that he's no longer touching me, I can think clearly again._

She made to turn towards the Fat Lady's portrait, but then stopped and looked back at him. "But only if you promise to get a good night's sleep as well. No wandering the corridors at night in order to get away from everybody." She suspected that was his form of escape, as studying was for her.

He raised an eyebrow at her and nodded. Apparently she had guessed correctly. "Fair enough. Sleep well, Granger." With another quick tug at one of her curls, he disappeared down the corridor. Hermione realized that she was smiling as she watched him walk away.


	8. Unusual Responses

Chapter 8—Unusual Responses

Malfoy had a point; a good night's sleep _was_ more valuable than pulling an all-nighter. Hermione felt refreshed and ready for action. She had Potions again today, and was determined to get back into Slughorn's good graces with an excellent class performance.

She got to Potions as quickly as she could in order to have a good seat at the front of the class. When she arrived, Malfoy was already there (He must know as many short-cuts as Harry and Ron, she mused), sitting at his usual table at the back. He caught her eye as she came in and glanced toward the seat next to him with a mischievous smirk.

Hermione reluctantly grinned in response, but shook her head and headed to the front of the class. Not only did she need to concentrate as much as possible, she didn't want to lend any more credence to the rumors that were beginning to circulate about her and Malfoy.

Class went very smoothly for Hermione; every question that Slughorn had, she was either the first student with her hand up, or more often, the only one in class who knew the answer at all. By the time they were halfway through the class, Slughorn was singing her praises once again. He also seemed to be mollified by the excellent job they had done on inventory the night before; she and Malfoy had worked rather well together that second evening.

Just when Hermione felt certain that everything was finally back to the way it should be, Slughorn was answering a question that had come from the back of the class. "Yes, Mr. Malfoy?"

Malfoy had a question? He must have had a pretty good night's sleep too; he rarely participated in class.

But she should have known better. "Yes, sir," Malfoy was saying, "is it true that ground walrus tusks are beneficial for hemorrhoids?"

Hermione nearly swallowed her tongue in an effort to show no reaction. Slughorn was turning purple; he spluttered in response and then looked over at Hermione and glared at her to make sure that she wasn't in on the joke. Somehow, she managed to keep an innocent, questioning look on her face.

"Mr. Malfoy, you seem to be headed towards a career in detention. See me after class."

By the time lunch rolled around, Hermione still found herself snickering when she thought of the expression on Slughorn's face in response to Malfoy's walrus tusk-hemorrhoid remark. But why was Malfoy being such a git towards Slughorn? They were both former Slytherins; it didn't make much sense.

When she entered the Great Hall, Malfoy was at his usual spot at the foot of the Slytherin table, deep within his moat of books and belongings. He looked up at Hermione as she approached him. "Yes?" he drawled.

"Why are you so hell-bent on messing with Slughorn? He's going to make life miserable for you if you don't watch out."

Malfoy snorted. "He can't do anything to me that won't seem trivial compared to…you know," he looked away as his voice trailed off.

Hermione continued. "But even so, why? You're a good student; you don't need to do this."

He looked back at her and shrugged. "I dunno, sometimes I just feel like wiping that smug look off his face, I guess. Besides, I don't mind detention—gets me some time away from everybody where I can't be bothered."

So that was it—escapist behavior yet again. Well, Hermione could certainly sympathize, although it was definitely not a path she would choose if she could possibly help it.

"Well, I'd better be going," Hermione said as she realized that many students were watching her conversation with Malfoy, including Parvati and Padma Patil, who appeared to be positively enthralled.

"Later, Granger," Malfoy said to her retreating back.

Owl post arrived during lunch. Both Ginny and Hermione had received letters from Harry. Ginny immediately tore hers open—it was quite fat—but Hermione waited to see if any more letters were coming for her, particularly from Ron. She watched all the owls dive through the Great Hall dropping letters, packages, and more letters here there and everywhere, but no other letter came for her. She sighed and tucked Harry's letter into the pocket of her robes. She'd read it later; right now she wasn't in the mood to hear from anyone but Ron.

_Has he not been receiving my letters? _she thought. _No, that's not possible; he and Harry are both staying together at the Weasleys. If Harry's getting my letters, than Ron most certainly must be._

Glumly, she glanced over at Ginny who was sitting next to her, avidly reading Harry's letter. She had a slight flush across her cheeks; it must be a juicy one, Hermione thought, smiling slightly. Ginny deserved to be happy, she had waited a long time for Harry and they had been through a lot together.

But hadn't she and Ron been through even more? _Don't I deserve to be happy too?_ she thought. Before she got too upset, Hermione dug into her bookbag and pulled out her Transfiguration textbook. _It was true,_ she realized. Studying seemed to be her escape as acting out seemed to be Malfoy's. She glanced over at the Slytherin table and her eyes met his. He had been watching her the entire time.

The rest of her classes that day were pretty uneventful. As much of a pain as Malfoy had been the last couple of days, Hermione had to admit that there was never a dull moment when he was around. Had it not been for the stigma of being punished, she realized that she would miss not having his unique brand of companionship that evening for detention. _Then again, _she reflected, _he would be alone and probably preferred it that way._

She walked to the Great Hall with Ginny for dinner. Ginny was chatting away as usual and Hermione was struck by the realization that everyone she knew always seemed desperate to fill silence with ceaseless chatter. Everyone that is, except Malfoy. She found that she almost enjoyed not talking to him more than she enjoyed having to talk to her friends. _But that must just be a passing phase,_ she told herself.

Another owl post came through the hall during dinner and a letter dropped onto Hermione's lap. _Finally, a response from Ron!_ she realized. She happily tore it open, but her heart sank as she realized that it was the shortest letter that she had ever received from him.

_Hi Hermione,_

_Things have been real busy here—lots of changes going on at the Ministry. Keep up the good work at Hogwarts, I'm sure you're the best in the class as usual. Miss you and Ginny, please say hi to her for me._

_Ron_

She wanted to scream in frustration, but Ginny was watching her so Hermione forced a bright smile on her face and carefully folded the letter and tucked it into her robe so Ginny couldn't see just how short it was.

Ginny smiled slyly at her. "So what does my prat of a brother have to say? Or can't you tell me?"

Hermione carefully kept her face schooled in the same bright grin. "Oh, I really can't say much," she heard herself saying in a cheery tone, "but I _can_ tell you that he does say hello to you and that he's been really busy at the Ministry. Would you excuse me, Ginny, I think I'm going to go read the rest of this letter in private." She had to get out of there before she could no longer keep up the happy façade.

Ginny beamed. "So it's _that_ good, is it? Well go on, but I want details later!"

Hermione nodded and quickly headed out of the hall. She felt the tears swimming in her eyes, threatening to spill over as she passed Malfoy and made it towards the doors. He had been watching her yet again and that made her feel even more humiliated. All she knew was that she had to get as far away from everyone as she possibly could. At the moment, she wanted nothing more in the world than to be left alone.


	9. A Confrontation

Chapter 9—A Confrontation

Hermione sat in a secluded alcove and finally allowed the tears to fall. That was it? After her two long and detailed, heartfelt letters, all Ron could reply with was a brief, three line note? Didn't he care? She was heartbroken. Her life as she knew it was slipping towards a desolate, unrecognizable destination, surrounded by mostly strangers. She buried her face in the sleeve of her robe and wept.

"Finally got a letter from the Weaselby? Apparently his writing skills haven't improved," she heard a voice drawl from above.

Her head whipped up angrily and dark brown eyes glared at silvery blue ones. "Mind your own business, Malfoy," she choked out.

Malfoy ran a hand through his hair. He seemed a bit uncomfortable, as if he knew that even he had gone too far.

"Look," he began, "I don't get letters from anyone but my Mum. I wrote Pansy for a while, hadn't really seen her since her and her family left that last night…" She knew he was referring to the evening of the final battle, when Pansy had stood up in the Great Hall and suggested turning Harry over to Voldemort to save their skins. That had gotten her permanently escorted out of Hogwarts.

"Anyway, I never heard a thing back from her and that's just how it goes sometimes. People change. It's no big deal." But Hermione could tell that it was a big deal for him. Enough of a big deal to tell her his very personal business. She felt oddly touched at Malfoy's stilted revelation.

A small smile played upon Hermione's lips. Malfoy had a slight flush across his cheeks and looked even more uncomfortable. Hermione decided that it would be best to make light of the situation. "Well," she ventured, "you know I never liked Pansy. I always thought she had a face like a pug."

Malfoy's head was down, but she could see that he had a faint smirk on his face. He had cheered her up and she wanted to return the favor. She continued, "I think you could do much better than her, anyway."

Malfoy looked up, surprised. He stared at her for a moment and almost smiled. The open expression on his face made him look quite breathtaking, Hermione realized. The combination of his silver eyes, white-blond hair and translucent skin was like watching the sunrise, and she caught her breath.

"I think you're right, Granger. Maybe I could do better." He was moving closer to her; the smile had finally broken through, and it was a devilish one. Nervously, Hermione stood up. "What?" she asked. He was staring at her with intent, which was making her extremely self-conscious.

"I could do a _lot_ better," he continued. He moved even closer to her until he had her backed into a corner.

Hermione started nervously babbling. "Well, that's good…get over it and move on, I always say…I'm sure there's lots of girls who would be happy to…what are you doing?" Malfoy had placed his hands on the wall, one on each corner, effectively trapping her between them.

His face was very close to hers. "I'm doing better," he said, and leaned in and kissed her.

For the first time in her life, Hermione's brain stopped working. She was overwhelmed with sensation—Malfoy's lips moved over hers and she felt her knees start to give way. Then one of his hands wound in her curls and the other started to slide slowly up her back and she clung to him in order to keep from sinking to the floor in a heap. Her mind swam and she kissed him back fervently, just savoring the taste of him. Merlin, it felt wonderful. She didn't know that a kiss could feel like this. She didn't care what happened to her as long as Malfoy didn't stop what he was doing, and it didn't feel like he was intending to stop anytime soon. He clutched her more tightly in response to her enthusiasm and slowly opened his mouth…

Then she heard a gasp, which effectively broke the spell Malfoy had put her under. She jumped away from him as if she were burned and noticed a small First Year student staring at them in wide-eyed fascination.

Hermione's mind was reeling over what had just happened. She seemed frozen on the spot. Malfoy looked back and forth between the stunned First Year boy and Hermione-the-Zombie and figured that it was up to him to rectify the situation. He decided to handle it in his usual diplomatic manner.

He turned to the small boy. "Consider yourself blessed that there's no more House Points to get deducted, otherwise you'd have just lost so many points for your House that they'd probably have you run out of school!" he growled. No matter that Prefects couldn't deduct House Points anyway, the kid didn't know that.

The First Year's eyes grew even larger (Hermione wouldn't have thought that that was humanly possible) and he whirled around and hurried away as if he was being chased by a Hungarian Horntail.

That was what it took to snap Hermione out of her mind-freeze. "What was that?" she exploded.

"What? First Years are afraid of everything—besides, I didn't even _do_ anything to the little git," Malfoy protested.

"Not _that_! Before that!" she was sputtering, completely off-balance. "Why did you…why did you…"

"Kiss you?"

"Yes!"

"Hey Granger, I wasn't exactly kissing a stone wall, you know. You were there."

That was his argument for everything! 'I didn't hold a wand to your head', 'Nobody forced you to sit next to me', and now it was 'I wasn't exactly kissing a stone wall'! She had had enough. "Malfoy," she spat, "you have been the bane of my existence since school began!" It wasn't at all true, but Hermione was overwrought and words were spilling out of her before she even knew what she was saying.

Malfoy's silver eyes narrowed. "Careful, Granger, don't lie to me!" he shot back.

"I'm not lying! You have been nothing to me but a royal pain in the arse—" She was cut off because Malfoy grabbed her and kissed her again, hard and deep. And again, she was furiously kissing him back.

And all of a sudden, Malfoy abruptly broke the kiss and stepped away from her. "Like I said," he enunciated, panting slightly, "don't you _ever_ lie to me."


	10. More Confrontations

Chapter 10—More Confrontations

Hermione didn't sleep at all that night. The chain of events that evening kept rolling around in her head, refusing to allow her any respite. What was going on with Ron? And moreover, why on earth would Malfoy kiss her? _And worst of all, why would I respond like that? I didn't want him to stop!_ As she lay in bed, she kept touching her lips tentatively. They still seemed to burn from Malfoy's kiss.

She pounded her pillow in frustration. _I need to get my act together,_ she thought. _If I was focused, I would have _never_ let this happen. I let Ron's letter get to me and as a result, I kissed the first guy I saw._ Yes, that was it. By sunrise, Hermione had convinced herself that her response to Malfoy was due to temporary insanity, nothing more.

She was just starting to fall asleep when her alarm went off. _Wonderful,_ she thought. _This day has already got some _great_ potential._

Because her mind was so cloudy from lack of sleep, she took extra long to get ready and was thrown off her schedule for the entire day. By the time Transfiguration class approached, she was very nearly running late. As a result, the only seats available were with the smug Parvati & company, or with…_Malfoy_. She decided the lesser of the two evils was to sit with the girls.

She was wrong. Parvati, Padma, and the other girls peppered her constantly with questions about Malfoy at every opportunity during the entire class. Hermione was as evasive as possible, but Parvati in particular was not going to accept Hermione's protestations that absolutely nothing was going on. _And she was right,_ Hermione realized. _Thank Merlin that no one knew that he kissed me last night!_ And a softer voice inside her head added…_and that I liked it._

Transfiguration finally came to an end; for Hermione it had seemed to last for hours. As she exited the classroom, she passed Malfoy who was leaning against the wall just outside the door. He grabbed the sleeve of her jumper as she passed by, effectively stopping her.

She couldn't believe this was happening. Parvati and Padma actually hung back to watch.

"I don't want to talk to you," she muttered.

"Too bad, Granger," he softly countered, so that only she could hear. "Now if I were you, I'd take the back way to Charms if you don't want the female population of this class to hear about our snogging session last night."

_Snogging session! _She couldn't believe his audacity. But he had her; it was most definitely something she didn't want found out. "Fine," she hissed. "I'll meet you in the corridor."

"Right-O." He let go of her sleeve and glided off down the hall. Hermione waited a minute or two; the girls saw that Hermione wasn't following him, so they quickly lost interest and headed for Charms.

When they were gone, Hermione headed down the back corridor. _I can't believe I'm doing this,_ she thought. _What could Malfoy possibly want now?_

She found out soon enough. He came out of nowhere and pushed her into a nearby broom closet. "Hey!" she gasped. "What do you think you're—" And before she could finish, his mouth was on hers. And again, it was wonderful. Before she knew what she was doing, she was kissing him back. Her bookbag fell to the floor and she clung to him tightly as his hands wrapped in her hair and around the small of her back.

She couldn't think, and moreover, she didn't want to. All she wanted to do was feel his lips on hers. But she was jolted back to reality as his hand began to slide over her bum.

"Malfoy," she panted.

"Shut up, Granger." He pulled her closer to him, his hand still cupping her backside.

"Malfoy," she began more insistently. Malfoy slipped his tongue into her open mouth and she gasped. _Oh, that feels sooo good,_ she thought, and then she stopped herself. "Draco!" she cried; this _had_ to stop.

Malfoy pulled his head up in surprise. Hermione's eyes were huge and she was breathing heavily, as was he. "I don't think you've ever called me by my first name before, Granger." he said in a bemused tone.

_Oh, thank Merlin that got him to stop!_ "Yes, well, neither have you," she blurted out. She was so embarrassed that she didn't know what else to say.

"You're right. My apologies…_Hermione_," she felt the gooseflesh rise on her arms as he slipped a hand on either side of her face and pulled her in for a long, soft kiss.

She leaned into the kiss for a minute and then caught herself. Pushing him away, she bent over to pick up her bookbag, anything to keep from looking at him. She felt like her face was on fire. "I'm going to be late for Charms," she said, swinging the bag over her shoulders and hurrying out the door without a backward glance.

Hermione ran all the way to Charms. She couldn't believe what she had done and wanted nothing more than to bury her nose in a book and forget everything that had just happened. She burst through the door merely seconds before the class began and collapsed in the seat next to Ginny. She could feel that her face was still burning and she could only imagine what she must look like (Malfoy seemed to have a liking for running his hand through her hair…_no_, she didn't want to think about that).

Ginny stared at her with concern. "Are you all right?" she asked Hermione. Hermione hadn't really talked to her much that day, attributing it to not getting much sleep the night before, but now it looked like Ginny was going to get more persistent.

"I left one of my books back in Transfiguration and had to run back and get it." She felt terrible about lying to Ginny, but Hermione was really in no condition to discuss this most recent turn of events.

Ginny's eyes seem to bore into her. "Well…okay," she said slowly. "But if you need to talk about anything, I'm here for you."

Hermione clasped Ginny's wrist in gratitude. "I know. Thanks, Ginny." They smiled at each other.

Just then, Malfoy sauntered into the classroom with his hands in his pockets, whistling to himself. _Arrogant toerag! _Hermione thought. _Not only is he late, but he has to make a grand entrance as if he's Merlin's gift to women._ He dropped into a chair, pointedly looked over at Hermione and gave her a wink and she felt her face flare up all over again.

She caught Ginny staring suspiciously at her out of the corner of her eye—she had caught the entire exchange. _Uh oh,_ Hermione thought. _It's going to be tough to explain this one._

Other than that, class was uneventful. Hermione permitted herself to steal one quick glance at Malfoy halfway through the period; he was bent over his notebook, scribbling away with his quill. _Hmph,_ Hermione uncharitably surmised, _he's probably drawing his rendition of Flitwick and McGonagall as the dancing penguins._ Then she noticed how his white-blond hair was falling over his brow and how soft it looked…_Merlin, what is wrong with me?_ She quickly looked away and got back to work.


	11. A Different Sort of Letter

Chapter 11—A Different Sort of Letter

Hermione made it back to her dormitory as quickly as she could, and had her nose buried in a book by the time Ginny entered the room. But this time, Ginny's curiosity was too great. She came up behind Hermione, snatched the book out from in front of her and tossed it onto the bed.

Hermione stared in futility at the empty space where her textbook had been. "Okay," Ginny enunciated carefully. "I know something's wrong, and I thought it best to give you some time before talking to me about it, but you seem to be getting worse. So now I'm going to ask, _what in the bloody hell is going on between you and Malfoy?" _

Hermione put her head in her hands. "I don't know! We had detention together and we actually seemed to be getting along together all right," At this, Ginny's eyebrows shot up in disbelief, but she didn't interrupt. "And then," Hermione continued, "every time I turned around, he was there! Saving me a seat in class, carrying my books, and now he seems to think that something's going on between us!" She didn't dare tell Ginny any more than that—after all, she was dating Ginny's brother.

"Why would he think that? Did anything else happen?"

Hermione abruptly stood up and grabbed her discarded school robe from off of her bed. She was deliberately stalling so that she could think of the best way to answer Ginny's question without making the situation even worse than it already was. She heard something drop out of the pocket, but she was too worked up to notice. "This is _Malfoy_ we're talking about," Hermione said as she pulled the robe on over her school jumper and skirt. "His mind doesn't work the same way as a normal person's does." That was most definitely true, as far as Hermione was concerned.

Ginny wasn't looking at her. Instead, she was staring at the floor. Hermione followed her line of sight and saw the letter from Harry lying on the floor (still unopened—in her recent confusion, Hermione had forgotten all about it), and on top of it, Ron's brief note.

Ginny slowly picked up Ron's note and read it. Hermione watched her as if in a dream, unable to move. Ginny looked up at Hermione in sympathy and, Hermione suspected, frustration at her brother's lack of tact and sighed. "Is _this_ what you've been hiding from me all this time?" she said gently.

Hermione felt her eyes fill with tears. "Ginny, everything is such a mess! I wrote Ron about everything that's been going on, and I mean _everything_. And that's…that's all that I got," she finished lamely and felt the tears begin to slip down her cheeks.

Ginny went over to Hermione and hugged her. "Don't get me wrong; I love my brother, but he really can be an insensitive prat sometimes. I don't know what else to tell you about him, but I _do_ know that you should stay away from Malfoy. He's always been nothing but trouble and he always will be."

Later, Hermione walked down to the Great Hall alone. Ginny could see that Hermione needed some time to herself and made excuses about having to contact her teammates about setting up the next Quidditch practice. Hermione appreciated the gesture; her nerves were still raw from everything that had happened, and she really didn't want to talk to anybody for a while.

She reached the Great Hall and found a seat off to the side that was relatively secluded. Taking a leaf from Malfoy's book, she had brought a textbook with her to prop up as a barrier to any other students who might attempt to strike up a conversation with her. She got situated and began to read and eat her supper.

Just then, the evening's owl post sailed through the Great Hall, and to her surprise, a letter dropped onto her lap. If it was a longer response from Ron, she wasn't sure if she wanted to read it. She had finally read Harry's letter—another long one—and _he_ had had no problem making time for her. Surely, her boyfriend should have been able to do as much.

She picked up the sealed letter and looked at it. There was a drawing of a dragon on the front of the envelope. No, it definitely wasn't from Ron, and it wasn't from Harry either. Under the picture, it was addressed to _Granger, The Head Girl_.

Hermione's eyes flew open in surprise. There was only one person she knew who would address her in that way. Involuntarily, her eyes darted over to the foot of the Slytherin table where Malfoy sat. He was staring back at her intensely; and his silver-blue eyes seemed to goad her, _Go on, open it._

Her heart started to beat rapidly in her chest as she tore open the letter and read,

_Granger,_

_I thought it was time you got a _real letter_ for once so you don't have to waste any more tears on that stupid Weaselby. _

_Bet you're impressed to get a letter from me, huh? You should be. I don't do this for just anybody, you know._

_Anyway, I'd just like to know why you decided to leave the broom closet so soon earlier today. You seemed to be enjoying yourself. It can't be because you chickened out, because aren't you Gryffindors supposed to be brave? I'd like to see more proof of that, if you know what I mean._

There was another picture at this point in the letter—it was a Gryffindor lion, dancing across the page followed by two penguins that looked very much like McGonagall and Flitwick. Hermione smiled reluctantly; she had been right all along about Malfoy drawing the penguins. She continued to read:

_You've been pretty brave so far, though. Most of the people around here keep away from me, but that's a good thing._

_I have a detention with Slughorn tonight, but I plan on getting out about an hour before curfew. Meet me in the hallway between his office and the painting of the drunken monks if you're as brave as I think you are._

_M._

Next to his initial was another drawing of a dragon. _Of course, _she realized. _Draco. Dragon._ And then she noticed the post-script:

_p.s. That's a nice bum you've got there._

She was torn between indignation at his cheekiness and feeling touched by the fact that he had gone through such trouble. He had made sure that she had gotten a letter to make up for the one that had upset her so much the night before. She slowly looked up at him again and his eyes captured hers from across the room. He raised his glass of pumpkin juice to her in a silent toast. She blushed and looked back down at the letter in her lap. Once again, she had lost her appetite. Her heart was pounding too hard to think about dinner now.


	12. A Clandestine Meeting

Chapter 12—A Clandestine Meeting

Hermione paced her dormitory room. Thankfully, everyone was still hanging out in the common room so she had the space to herself. She kept glancing at the clock; it was very nearly an hour before curfew. _Do I go, or don't I?_ she thought for the hundredth time as she continued to pace. _I know what he has in mind, so why in my right mind should I even consider going? He doesn't care about me; he just wants a snogging partner,_ she thought angrily. _No, that wasn't exactly true,_ she admitted to herself. Out of everyone she had met since coming back to Hogwarts, Malfoy seemed to be the only one who truly understood her. In his own odd way, he had gotten her to open up, cheered her up when she was down, and even got her to laugh on more than one occasion. That was something that had happened very rarely since the War.

However, this being pushed into broom closets and such had to stop. She wasn't his plaything and she had no intention of becoming a notch in his belt.

And then a phrase echoed in her head: _Meet me in the hallway between Slughorn's office and the painting of the drunken monks if you're as brave as I think you are. _

She had made her decision. Before she changed her mind, she bolted out the door and quickly headed towards the hallway in question.

Malfoy had chosen well. The hallway was utterly deserted. Hermione was looking at the floor, debating whether or not she had made the right decision when a shadow fell across the floor. She looked up.

Malfoy was standing at the other end of the hallway with a mischievous grin on his face, his arms folded across his chest. "Ah. Granger, the brave little Gryffindor."

At that moment, she decided that she wanted nothing more than to wipe that smug and diabolical grin off his face. He had gotten it into his head that she was a source of entertainment for him, and she wanted to make it abundantly clear that she most definitely was _not_.

She started to walk towards him. "See here, Malfoy," she spat, pointing an accusatory finger at him, "I didn't come here to snog you, if that's what you think. I'm here to tell you that what happened between us was just an accident, nothing more. And it _won't_ be happening again!"

His eyebrows went up in mock disbelief. He was still grinning at her. "Is that so?"

"Yes, it is! I have a boyfriend, if you remember—"

"Oh, right, the Weaselby, your knight in shining armor who can't be bothered enough to write a decent letter to his supposed girlfriend who fought alongside him during a Goddamn _War_. That's rich."

The remark totally disarmed her. Malfoy had effectively summed up exactly how she felt about the situation with Ron. She stared at him blankly, unable to refute what he had said.

He wasn't going to allow her to retreat. "Am I right?" he demanded.

"Yes," she admitted quietly.

"It's like I said, Granger, people change. And maybe _you_ could do a little better too, you know?"

Hermione continued to stare at him. Malfoy really did have the measure of her, she realized. He not only saw her for what she was, but he also saw what she was trying to hide and refused to let her do so. He continually demanded nothing less than one hundred percent honesty from her and always gave it back in return. She took a deep breath.

"I guess I should thank you for the letter," she began.

His expression was shuttered. "Better than the Weasel's, then?"

She looked down at his feet. "Yes," she answered softly. She owed him the truth, so she looked back up at him said in a rush, "I liked it, Draco."

That did it. Saying his name seemed to ignite Malfoy; he grabbed her and pulled her close to him, kissing her passionately as his hands tangled through her hair and slid around her waist.

Hermione gave herself over to it and responded with equal enthusiasm. As his mouth opened against hers, she was the one to tentatively slide her tongue against his. Her hands wound around the back of his neck and in his hair; it was as soft as it looked. "_Hermione_," she heard him moan softly as they both came up for breath. He pulled her even closer and he began to kiss her neck as she felt his hand gently squeeze her bum.

"_OUCH!" _

Hermione jumped away from Malfoy as if he were a troll. He had bent over and was trying to detach Mrs. Norris' claws from his leg. "Ow! Bloody cat, get off!"

Hermione couldn't help it; it was so ridiculous that she started to laugh. Malfoy was now attempting to kick the cat across the hall, but Mrs. Norris was holding fast onto his calf. "Don't just stand there laughing, damn it! Help me!"

She was now laughing so hard that tears were rolling down her face. "Okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she said between giggles, flapping her hands. She pulled her wand out of her pocket and pointed it at the cat. "_Expelliarmus_!" she gasped, still giggling.

The cat's claws retracted immediately and she hunched her back at Malfoy and Hermione and hissed loudly. Then she skittered off down the hall.

Hermione instantly sobered. "That means Filch won't be far behind," she turned to Malfoy. "We'd better get going."

Malfoy had an evil grin playing at the corners of his mouth. "You sure?"

Hermione blushed furiously, but refused to let him goad her any further. "We also have curfew to contend with," she added. It was getting to be a little too much for her—she had to go before she did something she'd _really_ regret.

Malfoy sighed and then nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Come on, I'll walk you back to your dorm." He took her hand and together they hurried off down the hallway.


	13. Feeling Funky

Chapter 13—Feeling Funky

So much had happened in such a short time that Hermione found it impossible to sleep. Her mind was reeling over what had occurred between her and Draco Malfoy. _Are we a couple now?_ she wondered. And then followed by, _A couple of what? I am definitely attracted to him, but Ron and I are…what, exactly?_ Up until now, everything had seemed clear. Ron was her boyfriend; they had been there for each other through thick and thin. But now…Ron _didn't_ seem to be there for her, yet Malfoy was. And even though she happened to find Malfoy extremely attractive at the moment, that didn't change the fact that they had been enemies for the past 7 years.

Could she trust Malfoy? And had she just jeopardized her friendship with Harry and Ron? Was Malfoy even worth this entire mess?

Over the course of the night, Hermione went through every emotion imaginable from guilt, embarrassment, ecstasy, fear, worry, excitement, until she finally settled on anger. This was all Malfoy's fault. She had been just fine until he started poking his ferrety (handsome, sexy…_no_, that wasn't right) face in her business. Yes, that was it. The anger continued to build in her until sleep became impossible. By daybreak, she decided to cut her losses and study for a while, then head to class extra early so that at least seating arrangements wouldn't be a concern.

She was the first to arrive at the dungeon for Potions, and she claimed a table up front and formed a wall of textbooks and materials around her in an attempt to seriously discourage anyone from sitting with her. She was feeling quite peevish due to lack of sleep and in no mood to deal with nonsense of any kind.

She took out her textbook and began to review the material that they would be covering in class, and behind her she could hear students beginning to pile into the room. She didn't bother to look up. As long as everyone gave her space, she should be able to get through the class without much of a problem.

But a problem found her nonetheless. The crash of a bookbag onto the table she was sitting at caused her to grip her textbook so tightly that it was astonishing that the book held up under the pressure. She knew who it was, and slowly, excruciatingly, she glared up at the object of her frustration.

Malfoy was smirking down at her in such a smug fashion that Hermione found herself contemplating murder.

"Smashing morning, Granger! Shove over." He pushed down an exterior wall of her books and plopped down into the seat right next to her.

"You can't sit here," she hissed at him while she attempted to rearrange her textbook wall.

"I just did, Granger, what are you going to do about it?" He was obviously enjoying himself, which irked Hermione even more.

"Does it matter to you that I _don't want_ you to sit here?" she countered, still trying to rebuild her barrier of bookage.

Malfoy stared at her for a few seconds with his eyes narrowed, then let out a slow sigh of exasperation. Hermione wouldn't look at him, hoping that if she ignored him long enough he would just go away.

Then again, this was Malfoy she was dealing with. Slowly, he leaned in until his lips were mere inches from her ear. She felt the gooseflesh rise on her neck. "What's the deal, Hermione?" he said softly.

The effect was overwhelming. She couldn't think of anything but how her name sounded on his lips and how his breath softly warmed her ear as he had spoken. She could feel herself trembling. "W-What do you mean?" she managed to whisper back.

"This hot-cold thing that you're pulling. You can act like you hate me, but you and I both know that if we were alone right now—"

"Stop it," she interrupted.

"—we wouldn't be talking, that's for sure," he continued as if she hadn't even spoken.

She glared at him even though there were butterflies in her stomach. "So sure of that, are you?" she said in a haughty tone.

He leaned back in his chair and raised an eyebrow at her, smirking confidently. "Is that a challenge?"

Her heart started to pound, but she wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of knowing his effect on her. "Malfoy, quit it."

"That's not what you said last night."

"I mean it. We can't do this." She had to look away from him; he was positively intoxicating and infuriating all at the same time. She wasn't used to being so swept away by her emotions and was fighting for control. "I have a boyfriend," she continued.

"Codswallop. Don't lie to me." He was glaring at her. "If that was how you really felt, you wouldn't have shown up last night."

Hermione opened her mouth to retort, but stopped abruptly as Professor Slughorn entered the room. Malfoy sat back in his seat and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. He was obviously upset that the conversation had been aborted. Hermione, on the other hand, was relieved. Confrontations with Malfoy were never easy for her because he was always so blunt—truthful to the point of rudeness, demanding and raw. She couldn't hide anything from him.

Professor Slughorn didn't seem all that pleased, either. He obviously no longer trusted Hermione and Malfoy in such close proximity to each other, but at least they were in the front row where he could keep a good eye on them. Hermione's plan was to give him absolutely no reason to worry—plus, it was a great excuse to keep Malfoy at arm's length.

The class atmosphere was very tense for Hermione, mainly because she could feel Malfoy's eyes on her most of the time. She couldn't look at him, and she definitely wasn't looking forward to the end of class. She knew that the conversation wasn't closed as far as he was concerned.

She had underestimated him. She thought that he would wait until class was over and corner her in the halls, but Draco Malfoy was a cunning Slytherin. As they were working on a particularly complicated potion, he deliberately slipped something into the cauldron which caused it to overflow with an extremely vile-smelling foam. Before she realized what was happening, both she and Malfoy were practically covered in a smell combination of rotten eggs, mold, vomit and seaweed.

"Granger! Watch what you're doing! Sorry, Professor, looks like the Head Girl's a little distracted today," Malfoy added to Professor Slughorn with an innocent look.

"Malfoy! You did that on purpose!" Hermione shrieked and shoved him away from the cauldron, trying futilely to stop the malodorous mess.

"_Moi?_ Why would I deliberately try to mess up my favorite class?" Malfoy exclaimed with an exaggerated expression of disbelief.

"Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy, in my office this instant! I'll be up there shortly as soon as I have this fetid fiasco of yours under control," Slughorn was furiously waving his wand over the foaming cauldron.

Hermione couldn't believe she was in trouble with Slughorn yet again, and that it was Malfoy's fault _yet again._ She was frozen on the spot, but Malfoy had already taken the liberty of gathering up all of her materials into her bookbag and slinging it over his free shoulder.

Slughorn's face was purple, he was sweating profusely and he couldn't seem to get the cauldron to stop overflowing. "Now, Miss Granger!" he reiterated. Then added, "Class dismissed!"

At this point, half the class had already started to leave being as the noxious odor had begun to permeate the entire room. Malfoy was tugging at the sleeve of her jumper. "Come on, Granger, let's get going."

It was too much for Hermione. Without another word, she let Malfoy lead her out of the Potions dungeon and down the corridor towards Slughorn's office.


	14. Unfinished Business

Chapter 14—Unfinished Business

As soon as they had reached a deserted corridor, Malfoy abruptly dropped their bookbags and cornered Hermione against the wall, effectively trapping her with one hand on the wall on either side of her.

Hermione wouldn't look at him; she kept her eyes focused on her shoes. "I can't do this, Malfoy. Not now," she said in a listless tone.

"What's the problem? It's all pretty clear if you ask me—I understand you, you understand me. Case closed." He leaned in to kiss her and Hermione tried to push him away.

"But Ron—"

"But Ron _nothing_. Don't use him as an excuse. He's _not_ your boyfriend, no matter what you try to say." He grabbed her face with one hand and forced her to look at him. The expression on his face was a combination of frustration and, she wasn't quite sure, but it looked like tenderness. The hand that had grabbed her face turned into a gentle caress across her cheek. She was utterly transfixed and could do nothing but stare up into his silver-blue eyes. Eyes that contained the same shadows as hers did. Eyes that wouldn't let her hide from him in any way, and most importantly, eyes that understood her. "Hermione," Malfoy began with a softer tone.

That was it. Any reservations that had still existed in Hermione's mind melted away in that moment. Her hands came up to frame his face. "Draco, I'm so sorry," she said in a near whisper.

"For?" His expression was clouded.

"For lying to you to by trying to push you away," she finished and leaned in to give him a light kiss.

Of course, with Malfoy, nothing stayed light for very long. With a moan of satisfaction, he wound a hand in her hair and another around her waist and pulled her in close. For the first time, Hermione allowed herself to fully enjoy his amorous attentions without guilt. She kissed him back thoroughly, delighting in the feel of his hands on her, the taste of him, and how his kiss made her feel like she was the victim of a jelly-legs jinx.

And then she remembered why they were in the hallway in the first place. "Draco," she began, attempting with great difficulty and reluctance to pull away from him. "Draco, we have to stop. Slughorn will be coming back to his office at any minute and we can't have him catch us like this."

"Why not?" he said with a chuckle. "It'd be entertaining." He began to nibble lightly at her neck.

With a shiver, Hermione ducked away from him. He was quickly becoming irresistible to her and she had to get control while she still possessed a small semblance of rational thought. "It's not just that…we shouldn't be doing this yet."

Malfoy gave her an incredulous look and pulled her in for another kiss. "What the hell are you talking about?" he said as he continued to nibble her neck.

"Draco, it's not that I don't want to," she let out a light gasp as his tongue ran over her earlobe. "I'm just not ready to let anybody else know about it."

He stopped abruptly and stepped back from her, his eyes narrowed. _"What?"_ he demanded. "Is this just a dirty little secret for you or something, Granger? Because I don't play those sort of games."

"No! Not at all—it's just that I have some unfinished business to take care of first. I want to do this the right way." She had to be up front with Ron, Ginny and Harry. She couldn't lie to them and would do whatever it took to make sure that this didn't ruin their friendship. Until she took care of that, she would never feel right about what was happening between her and Draco Malfoy. She clasped his hand and looked earnestly into his eyes. "Trust me," she added.

He looked back at her in silence for about a minute, then let out a sigh of exasperation. "You Gryffindors and your sense of honor. When do you plan on 'finishing your business'?"

"This weekend Harry and Ron are meeting me and Ginny in Hogsmeade. I'd rather tell them all in person, together. It's the right thing to do."

Malfoy had a slight smirk on his face. "And Merlin knows you always do the right thing. Good thing you have me to keep you from being totally lame."

Hermione bent over to pick up her bag. "Oh, right, I didn't know almost constant detention with Slughorn could be such fun! Thank you _so_ much for showing me the light."

Malfoy took the bag from her and slung it over his free shoulder. "I'm just teaching you how to loosen up a bit, Granger. Call it my good deed for the day." They continued down the hall.

"Loosen up? I see," Hermione was enjoying the good-natured banter. She couldn't remember the last time she felt light enough to be in a teasing mood. "But what if your plan backfires? We may end up with another detention and then I won't be able to go to Hogsmeade, and then…" They had reached the door to Slughorn's office. Hermione shrugged delicately and pushed open the door. "Oh well," she added as she entered the office. It was her turn to irk Malfoy and she was going to enjoy it for all it was worth. She sat down in a chair with a sigh. "The next trip to Hogsmeade won't be for another two weeks after that. Guess we'll just have to hold off until then."

"Oh no…I don't think so. Nice try, Granger. Observe," he added as Slughorn entered the office.

Professor Slughorn was in a state of complete disarray. The little amount of hair that he possessed was all standing up on end, he was drenched in sweat and his clothes were hopelessly rumpled and stained. Plus, he smelled like a garbage dump during a heat wave. Hermione immediately felt sorry for him—although he was a bit pompous, he really hadn't done anything to either of them, yet he had already had more than his share of chaos to deal with, compliments of herself and Malfoy.

She stood up. "Professor Slughorn, I am so sorry—"

Malfoy shoved her back down into the chair. "Sir, I owe you an apology," he began, as walked over to Slughorn and helped him over to a seat. "I was very nervous today, and I ended up making a colossal mistake with the potions ingredients," he handed the Professor his handkerchief so that he could mop off his sweaty brow.

"Thank you Mr. Malfoy," Slughorn took the handkerchief and wiped not only his brow, but also his neck as well as the top of his head. "Nervous, did you say? Whatever for?"

Hermione couldn't believe what she was seeing. Malfoy was actually going to manage to worm his way out of this one. _Sneaky Slytherin_, she thought, as she watched in fascination.

"Well, like I said before, Potions is my favorite class and I really wanted to impress you. I guess that's why I've been acting out so much in class lately, so I could get your attention." Hermione was watching a master at work—Malfoy knew that Slughorn's weakness was that he was very susceptible to flattery and Malfoy was giving him exactly what he craved.

Slughorn sat back in his chair and puffed up his chest. He looked more walrus-like than ever and Hermione fought to keep her face straight. "All right, Mr. Malfoy. I suppose we all make mistakes from time to time. Just remember that if you ever need any help, next time, simply _ask for it_. Potions is a fascinatingly complex subject so I do understand your zeal, but remember that proper decorum in class must be observed at all times."

"Yes sir. Thank you sir, I will." He made a small come-here gesture to Hermione that Slughorn couldn't see. Hermione stood up. "May we be excused now, Professor? We don't want to stink up your office any more, and you must have much more important things to do."

"Very true, very true. Oh, and Miss Granger, perhaps you might consider taking some extra time to assist Mr. Malfoy with Potions? A little tutoring might be just what he needs."

Shocked, Hermione opened her mouth to protest, but Malfoy cut her off. "That sounds like a great idea, sir. We'll get on that right away." And with that, he pulled her out the office door.


	15. The Countdown

Chapter 15—The Countdown

There were only two days to worry about before the first Hogsmeade weekend of the school year. They seemed to fly by, marked only by Malfoy's subtle teasing whenever he encountered her in class or in the Great Hall. Usually, Hermione was the only one who was aware of it, and she was glad. Mainly due to the fact that she didn't want any more false rumors to get out—she would rather the truth be known, but at the proper time—but also, she found that she enjoyed having a little something that was just between herself and Malfoy.

The first evening when she went to the Great Hall for dinner, she found Ginny at a table surrounded by her Quidditch teammates. "Hermione!" she called. "I want to show you something. I know you're not all that into Quidditch, but I thought you might appreciate this. We had to come up with our own team name and logo being as we don't have House teams anymore, and this is what we decided on." She showed Hermione a bright red banner with a silver figure on it. Hermione read the banner aloud. "The Silver Stags."

Ginny had named the team after Harry's Patronus. "Ginny, that's beautiful. What a perfect name." She was deeply touched, and very happy for Harry—Ginny truly loved him, and she knew that he felt the same way about Ginny. She just hoped that they wouldn't both hate her when she told them about—

Just then, a letter from the owl post dropped onto Hermione's lap. It had a drawing of a dragon on the envelope. Speak of the devil, she thought with a combination of exasperation and excitement. Luckily, one of her Quidditch teammates had asked Ginny a question, so Ginny didn't notice that Hermione had received a letter, let alone see her tear it open.

_It has occurred to me that as Head Girl, isn't it up to you to assign patrol duty to yourself and the rest of us Prefects? I know a couple of deserted hallways we could check out this evening, if you know what I mean._

Hermione felt her face flood with color. She quickly folded up the note and tucked it into her robes. Her eyes darted over to the Slytherin table where Draco Malfoy was watching her with an evil smirk. He raised his eyebrows at her as if to say, _Well?_

Just then, she was interrupted by Michael Corner, the Head Boy. "Hey, Granger," Corner was saying, "We should probably start assigning patrol duty to the prefects…we haven't really gotten on that yet and it's high time we did."

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Oh, really?" The timing was just a little _too_ perfect. "And who gave you that idea?"

"Believe it or not, Draco Malfoy. Seems the chap's finally decided to start taking his prefect duties seriously…"

And on and on it went. Most of the time, Hermione refrained from sitting next to Malfoy in class, but once or twice her curiosity and Malfoy's allure were a bit too strong for her and she found herself in the seat next to his. Besides, he seemed to act out less when she was sitting next to him. Class would run quite smoothly with only the occasional nudge to her foot or tug on her hair when she wasn't looking. Hermione convinced herself that the reason why she sat next to Malfoy was to keep him out of trouble, but if she were to be brutally honest, she would have to admit that it was getting more and more difficult for her to keep her distance from him. He was infuriating, he was cocky, he was insolent, but he was also forthright, considerate, and not to mention, terribly attractive.

Friday afternoon as she was packing up her books after Charms (she had been sitting with Ginny on that occasion, but at this point the class had cleared out), Malfoy came up behind her. "Granger," he breathed into her ear.

"Oh, what now?" she said in an exasperated tone of voice. It was now more of a game between them—he tried to see how long it would take to get her all worked up; she held him off as long as possible.

"Just how long do you plan on taking to break the news to Potter and the Weasels? Is this going to tie up the entire day, or will you have time for…_other things?"_

She turned to face him with her hand on her hip and a pretend scowl on her face. "I haven't seen Harry or Ron for a couple of weeks now. Why would I leave _them_ to be with _you_?" she said in her haughtiest manner.

"Because I'm the only person you know with a _real personality_, that's why. Not to mention the fact that I'm ridiculously handsome."

"Do you believe everything your Mum tells you, Malfoy?"

"Stop blabbering and answer the question."

"Well, I really do want to spend time with Harry and Ron, but at one point I'm sure Harry will want to be alone with Ginny, and Ron…well…" He would probably be upset with her and want some time alone, Hermione suspected.

"Yeah, so..?"

"So I suppose I'll be free later in the afternoon…"

He stepped in even closer to her, a predatory smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "Right…and when would that be?"

Hermione found it difficult to concentrate with him standing so close. "Er…around three o'clock, I suppose?"

"Fine. Meet me in the side alleyway by The Three Broomsticks at three, then," he leaned in and gave her earlobe a gentle nip with his teeth. She shivered with delight.

As she watched him saunter out of the classroom, she thought, _I should be worried about breaking the news to Harry, Ron and Ginny. I should be concerned about how Ron's going to handle the news. I should be agonizing over the fact that I might ruin three of the closest relationships that I have ever had in my entire life with what I'm going to tell them tomorrow. But I'm not. I should be, but I'm not. _

The bottom line was, Hermione was happy for the first time in quite a while, and she had finally decided that it was something worth having, and she wasn't going to give it up.


	16. Breaking News

Chapter 16—Breaking News

The morning of the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year finally dawned. Hermione's nerves were completely on edge; there were just too many emotions bubbling up in her at once. She was looking forward to seeing Harry and Ron again, but dreading it at the same time—it wasn't going to be easy to break the news to them. And underlying everything was the excitement of seeing Draco and not having to hide how she felt anymore. By the time she met Ginny in the village square, her hands were shaking, but she hid that by stuffing them into the pockets of her jacket.

Luckily, Ginny was too distracted to notice—she was anxious to see Harry again and it was all she could talk about. "Harry said for us to meet them at The Three Broomsticks. I can't wait to show him our team logo!" Her cheeks were flushed with anticipation.

The Three Broomsticks. Hearing the name made Hermione's heart jump into her throat. She nodded and they made their way towards the tavern. Hermione's mind began to race with questions: _How do I say this, how do I break the news in the best possible way? _Is_ there a best way? Will they hate me?_

Before she knew it, they had reached the Three Broomsticks. Ginny burst through the door; Hermione took a deep breath and followed in her wake.

Harry and Ron were sitting at one of the tables. Harry, with a big grin, stood up just in time to catch Ginny as she hurled herself into his embrace. He held her in a long, tight hug, his eyes were closed and the blissful look on his face immediately lifted Hermione's spirits. It was wonderful to see Harry so relaxed and happy. Then she remembered Ron. She looked down at him—he was still sitting—and he looked up at her with a bashful smile. "Hello, Hermione."

She took in his flushed face, hesitant grin, and the way his blue eyes peered up at her through the ginger hair flopping over his forehead and she realized that she loved him, but only as a friend. She wasn't exactly sure when it was that her feelings had changed towards him, but they most definitely had and her friends had a right to know that. _When the time is right_, she thought. _Now is the time to enjoy each other's company. _"Hello, Ron," she answered him with a smile.

Ron stood up slowly and gave her a hug. Hermione could feel tension in his body as he hugged her; ironically, she was completely relaxed. Seeing Ron again showed her that she was doing the right thing—it would be wrong to continue a relationship where the feelings for each other weren't mutual—and as a result, the feelings of dread that she had been harboring had significantly lessened.

She hugged him back with enthusiasm. "It's good to see you again Ron," she said softly, with emotion. She meant every word. He would always be very dear to her, but now she knew that it would be in friendship only. She gently stepped out of his embrace and turned to Harry. He was still hugging Ginny.

Hermione giggled. "Ginny, let go of Harry and give me a turn, for Merlin's sake!"

Ginny looked over her shoulder at Hermione and gave her a small, playful pout. "Oh, all right. But don't take too long!" She stepped away from Harry with a smile as he threw his arms out to Hermione.

"Hermione," he got out just before she flung herself into his arms.

Hermione could feel tears pricking her eyes as she hugged Harry tight. She hadn't realized until that moment just how much she had missed her friends. "Harry," was all that she could manage. It was enough. They held each other for a moment and then Harry pulled back slightly and cupped her face in his hands.

"You look well. School agrees with you," he said with a grin.

Hermione smiled. "Well, you always knew that about me." She stepped back and sat down at the table, between Harry and Ron's seats. Harry sat down next to her, Ginny at his other side. He looked closely at Hermione. "So, you're doing better, then?" he continued. Hermione knew he was referring to that last month she had spent at the Weasleys before going to stay with her parents. She had been very withdrawn and listless and ended up spending most of her time cloistered up in Ginny's room reading.

"I am. Thanks, Harry." However, it was Draco Malfoy, and not school that had gotten her out of her depression. In the past week of dealing with him, she had felt more alive than she ever had since the War ended.

Harry ordered butterbeers for the table and the four of them sat and chatted for a while, with Harry and Ginny doing most of the talking. Hermione was biding her time to bring up the news at the correct moment; Ron seemed a bit awkward and covered up his lack of conversation by drinking a significant amount of butterbeer.

The conversation finally started to wind down. Harry and Ginny had been giving each other some long, lingering looks and Hermione could tell that they were getting ready to break away for some time alone. This was the moment, she realized. She took a deep breath. "I have something to tell all of you," she began.

Ginny and Harry immediately looked away from each other and focused on Hermione with concern. "Hermione," Ginny said, "is everything okay?"

"Well…it all depends on how you look at it. Remember how I was telling you all about what a git Malfoy was being, and how we ended up in detention together and such?" They both nodded. Ron, she noticed, had finally leaned in and was listening intently. _Oh dear,_ she thought. _Just keep going; this has to be done._ She turned to Ron and took his hand. "Ron, I'm sorry. I don't know exactly how it happened, but Draco and I seem to have reached an…understanding," she blurted out. She didn't know how else to say it; it barely made sense to her, how was she supposed to explain it to someone else?

"_Draco?_ Did you just call him Draco? Hermione, have you completely lost your mind?" Harry exploded.

Ginny's mouth was open in a surprised "O", but she held her tongue. The news had confirmed some of her suspicions. Hermione looked back at Ron. He had let go of her hand and had leaned back in his chair, his eyes staring at the floor. _Was he in shock?_ Hermione thought frantically.

"Hermione, how can you trust that…that…_Slytherin snake?_ How many times did we save that coward's life and then he turned on us!" Harry was getting more and more worked up. Ginny was holding on to his arm in an attempt to calm him down.

Hermione looked away from Ron, who was still staring at the floor in silence. "Harry," she explained, "I know we have a long and horrible history with Draco Malfoy, but if I've learned anything, it's that war changes people. And remember that he _did_ help us out at Malfoy Manor…even though Ron and I weren't disguised at all, he wouldn't confirm our identity to the Death Eaters."

The look on Harry's face was still incredulous, but at least he wasn't shouting at her anymore. Ginny leaned in, took Harry's arm once again and said to him in a low tone, "Remember the night Dumbledore died, Harry. You said that you felt sorry for Malfoy…and that he had lowered his wand before Snape finished Dumbledore himself."

Hermione gave Ginny a look of gratitude. "Please trust me, Harry. I'm finding that the world's a different place now, and that I'm finally ready to start living in it again."

Harry sighed. "Well...I guess it's not really for me to say…it all depends on Ron…"

She slowly turned her focus back to Ron. He still hadn't said a word and that was making her excruciatingly worried. "Ron..?" she ventured timidly.

His eyes finally met hers and they were swimming with emotion. Blue eyes reflected confusion, anger, embarrassment and deep hurt. "So now I'm supposed to say, 'That's okay, Hermione, I understand'? Well, I'm _not_, because I _don't_!" And with that, he rose out of his chair and stomped out the door.


	17. Misunderstandings

Chapter 17—Misunderstandings

"Ron!" Hermione called after him. "Ron!" This wasn't going at all well, but that was to be expected. Hermione leapt out of her chair and hurried after him.

She finally caught up to Ron in the alleyway outside the Three Broomsticks. He refused to turn around, so she had to grab him and forcefully turn him to face her. Frustration had begun to boil up in her and she found herself shouting at Ron. "Will you listen to me? At least let me explain myself before you run off like that!"

"How can you possibly explain something like this, Hermione?" he shouted back at her. "You spend a month barely talking to me, and then you just take off to school and hook up with a bloke that we've all hated for 7 years!"

Now Hermione was angry. "Ron, I _tried_ to talk to you about how I was feeling, but you kept changing the subject on me every time I brought up the War. You wanted to act like everything was the same and that nothing had changed. But it's not true, Ron, _it's not_."

He was glaring at the ground, but at least he was listening. She took a deep breath and continued in a quieter tone of voice. "How can you say that I didn't talk to you during that month? When I brought up Lupin or Tonks, you'd change the subject. If I mentioned Mad-Eye, we'd only get as far as you supposing that maybe he survived, which we both know isn't true. And Fred—"

"Don't," Ron broke in.

"You see, Ron? That's _exactly_ what I mean."

"Well, what good is it to talk about all of that, anyway, Hermione? It isn't going to change anything!"

"Yes, it would. I would have been able to come to terms with everything that had happened. I would have been able to accept it all and have moved on that much sooner. And maybe you would have, too," she finished gently.

Ron continued to stare at the ground for a few more moments. Hermione watched him patiently; this wasn't easy for him and she would help him in any way that she could. When he finally looked back up at her, she was shocked to see that he had tears in his eyes. "He's…he's really gone…" he quavered. "Fred…" The tears began to slip down his cheeks. Hermione grabbed him and held him close; he hugged her back tightly, comfortable for the first time that day in her embrace. It was the first time since the final battle at Hogwarts that Ron had shown any true grief and it was long overdue. Hermione held him as he sobbed as if his heart were breaking all over again.

Finally, his sobs began to slow down and Hermione stroked his hair in a soothing manner. "That's it, Ron," she said softly in his ear. "Let it all out. You'll feel better."

He took a deep breath and slowly pulled away. "You're right. You _did_ want to talk about it, Hermione, I just couldn't. It…it hurt too much. I started to avoid you so I wouldn't have to face it."

Hermione nodded in understanding. "I know. It explains the letter, too," she said with a small smile to show that there were no hard feelings.

"Yeah, I'm really sorry about that. The letters you sent me kind of freaked me out. Too much change...I wasn't ready."

"I know, Ron. It's okay." Hermione realized that Ron just wasn't ready to go in the direction that she was headed. He still had to come to terms with the grief he felt over his brother's death and perhaps do a little more soul-searching in the process. But at least he could see that now. "You know, Ron," she ventured, "on some level, you actually knew that it wasn't going to work out between us before I did. I guess in a way, _you're_ smarter than _I_ am."

He grinned back at her, dimples visible, now completely at ease. "Careful, Hermione, I may _never_ let you hear the end of that one."

She giggled, then sobered as she asked him, "So…can you find it in your heart to forgive me for the…Malfoy situation?"

"Hermione, I just want you to be happy, but _Malfoy?_ Unless he's had a personality transplant that I didn't know about…"

She took his hands in hers, looked into his blue eyes and said earnestly, "Please, just trust me, Ron. A _lot_ has changed. I know it sounds crazy, but he seems to understand me."

"I hope you know what you're doing."

"I do. Believe me, I wasn't looking for it, but it just feels right. I can't think of any other way to describe it. Please trust me," she said again.

There was a moment of silence between them. In the distance, she could faintly hear the village clock ringing: _gong, gong, gong._

He sighed. "I'll trust you, Hermione; I just don't want to see you get hurt. So help me, if he tries anything funny, I'll jinx him so hard his kids'll be cross-eyed!"

That was the Ron Weasley she knew and loved. Relieved, Hermione let out a full-throated laugh and felt her heart swell with happiness. Full of emotion, she cried, "I love you, Ron!" and threw her arms around him.

He hugged her back tightly and whispered in her ear, "I love you too, Hermione."

"OI! _'I love you, Ron?'_ What the hell, Granger?"

Hermione froze in Ron's embrace. _Oh Merlin, NO,_ she thought. Slowly, she and Ron turned and found themselves face-to-face with a positively livid Draco Malfoy.


	18. Misjudgements

Chapter 18—Misjudgments

Hermione belatedly realized that it was three o'clock and that Malfoy had arrived at the proposed destination, right on time to meet her. But he misinterpreted what he had seen and was looking positively murderous. "Draco," Hermione began, "this isn't what it looks like—"

"Save it, Granger," he cut her off. "I'm through with listening to liars."

Ron jumped to her defense, but considering the situation, it was the worst thing to do. "Don't call Hermione a liar, you slimy little ferret!"

"Ron, hush!"

Malfoy turned his attention to Ron. "Well, if it isn't his majesty himself, the Weasel King," he drawled viciously. Ron's cheeks flushed a bright red. "What's the matter, Weaselby, get lost on the way to the goal posts? I wouldn't be surprised."

The situation had gone horribly wrong. Hermione backed up from Ron and turned towards Malfoy.

"Draco, please listen to me! We were just—"

"Granger, I think it's pretty obvious what you were just doing. Spare me the details."

"But it's not at all what you think!" Hermione cried.

"Malfoy, will you stop being such a prat and listen to her, for Merlin's sake?" Ron added from behind her.

Ron's interference seemed to incense Malfoy even further. "I don't need to listen to a low-class blood traitor or a filthy little m—"

"_Don't you dare say it!"_ Hermione blared. If he uttered the word now it would be absolutely unforgivable.

Malfoy seemed torn between rage and Hermione could also see the look of deep regret that had crossed his face the instant that last insult had come out of his mouth. He had stopped himself right before her outcry and had his eyes closed with a grimace of pain on his face, but Hermione was too overwrought to take notice. She had done nothing wrong and not only had Malfoy refused to give her his trust, there was obviously a part of him that still thought of her as a…_mudblood_.

They stared at each other as if frozen; they were at an impasse. Malfoy couldn't speak—he had very nearly said too much, and Hermione was also silent—she had been rendered speechless. It was such a tense and precarious situation that the next words that were said could irrevocably tip the scales of fate.

After nearly a minute of excruciating silence, Hermione looked at Malfoy, overwhelmed with indignation and deep hurt. _"How dare you,"_ she said in a near whisper. She turned away from him.

Ron reached out for her in sympathy. "Hermione," he began, but she held up a hand to stop him.

"No, Ron; not now," she said in a low voice. "I have to get out of here." And with that, she hurried down the alleyway.

Hours later, Hermione lay in her bed glumly recounting the chain of events that had snowballed into the confrontation with Draco Malfoy_._ She felt like a colossal buffoon—after defending her position to Harry, Ron and Ginny and insisting how much the War had changed everything, Malfoy had proven her to be profoundly wrong with one vicious retort. Heartsick and frustrated, she had gone back to Hogwarts, directly to her dormitory, and climbed in bed pulling the covers over her head. She didn't want to deal with any more problems or confrontations today—she didn't think she had the strength to handle it. Luckily, no one else was in the dormitory; it seemed that everyone was still at Hogsmeade.

Almost everyone. The door opened and Ginny quietly entered the room. Hermione pulled the covers up more closely around her head and pretended she was sleeping. She didn't want to have to explain once again why she and Malfoy…well, it was a moot point anyway. He wasn't who she had thought he was. At that thought, she closed her eyes even more tightly in a futile effort to block out the pain.

Ginny gently sat down on the edge of the bed. "Hermione," she said softly, "Hermione, I know you're awake." Hermione refused to answer. The day had turned out to be a total disaster and the last thing she wanted to do was discuss it in detail with Ginny.

Ginny must have realized that Hermione was not in a talkative mood because she continued speaking as if Hermione had answered her. "Ron told us about what happened outside The Three Broomsticks." She stroked the comforter in a consolatory manner; it helped to soothe Hermione's frayed nerves. "I'm so sorry," she added, and her sympathetic tone caused the tears to begin to slip down Hermione's cheeks.

"I'm such a fool," Hermione choked out from beneath the comforter.

Ginny quickly leaned forward, pulled the comforter off of Hermione's face and enveloped her in a hug. "No…no you're not, Hermione."

"You warned me about Malfoy," Hermione sniffed in an unsuccessful attempt to stop crying.

Ginny wiped the tears from Hermione's face. "I did," she conceded, "but I think I may have misjudged him."

Hermione looked at Ginny with an expression of disbelief. "How in Merlin's name can you say that _now?"_ she demanded.

Ginny sighed. "I know that this sounds crazy, but I can see that Malfoy seems to really care about you." Hermione opened her mouth to retort, but Ginny quickly continued, "I doubt that he would have been so upset about seeing you with Ron if he didn't have such strong feelings for you."

Hermione looked down. "Strong feelings for a…_mudblood_, you mean," she said in a downcast tone.

"But he didn't say it, did he?" Ginny persisted.

"No. But he almost did, which means a part of him still thinks of me as one."

"Hermione, I don't think he does. He wouldn't be interested in you otherwise. But you do have to remember that he's been conditioned his _entire life_ to talk like that. Maybe seeing you with Ron made him so upset that…it just slipped out."

Hermione was silent for a moment.

Ginny continued, "Now, believe me, I still have my reservations about Draco Malfoy—I always thought he was the biggest prat at Hogwarts—but he _has_ been less…obnoxious since he came back to school, and I don't think that you would have been interested in him if he had absolutely _no_ redeeming qualities….and I can see that he's been good for you. When you were staying with us at the Burrow, you weren't quite yourself, but since you've been here, even when you were complaining to the high heavens about Malfoy, you were more alive than I've seen you in a long time."

"Ginny…I don't know. Maybe it's just not meant to be. Not only did he almost call me…_that name_, the whole reason he got so upset in the first place is because he didn't trust me. I didn't do anything wrong and he wouldn't even give me a chance to explain."

Ginny gave her arm a sympathetic pat. "I know. But you should at least talk to him."

Hermione sighed. She wasn't sure if that would make matters better or worse, but until she came up with a better idea, perhaps she would try it.


	19. A Discussion

Chapter 19—A Discussion

The next day was Sunday, and according to Ginny, the former Slytherin team had booked a Quidditch practice in the afternoon. She decided (after another sleepless night) to take Ginny's advice and go over to the Quidditch pitch at the end of the practice session and try to talk to Malfoy. She didn't have much faith that it would go very well, but at least she would be taking some sort of action instead of staying in her room and crying. Hermione had had _quite_ enough of that.

When she finally managed to make her way down to the Great Hall for breakfast (she was groggy from lack of sleep), Ginny was more than halfway done with her waffles. She looked at Hermione with concern as she sat down beside her. "How are you feeling?" she asked, as she watched Hermione drown her waffles in syrup.

"I've been better," Hermione gave Ginny a wan smile and began to cut up her waffle into bite-size pieces. "I've decided to go talk to Malfoy after his team's Quidditch practice this afternoon."

"That sounds like a good idea."

Hermione smiled ruefully. "Of course you would say that. It was _your_ idea."

"But it's still a good one," Ginny grinned back. "It'll be fine, trust me."

"Perhaps…" Hermione shrugged and took a bite of waffle. "And perhaps not," she added after swallowing.

"Yes, but at least you'll know the score once and for all."

At that, Hermione's eyes involuntarily glanced over at Malfoy's corner of the Slytherin table. It was empty.

Ginny had followed her gaze. "He was here and left before you made it down. Fastest breakfast in Malfoy history, I'd bet."

Hermione sighed; apparently he was trying to avoid her. This wasn't going to be easy.

A couple of hours later, Hermione nervously headed off to the Quidditch pitch. From a distance, she watched the last half hour of practice, her eyes tracking Malfoy as he caught the snitch over and over again. He seemed separate from the rest of the team; they were all involved in working on a particular strategy, while Malfoy's only focus was on his own game. As the Slytherin (no, she noticed that they had changed their name to Team Venom and their robes were now primarily green and black with a large cobra as their logo) captain shouted some pointers to Malfoy, he pointedly ignored the captain and flew up high over the pitch, under the guise of looking for the snitch.

Finally, practice seemed to come to an end. The team had all congregated at the middle of the field for some last minute instructions, but Malfoy, true to his anti-social tendencies, broke away and headed towards the exit to the locker rooms. Hermione saw this as her chance and hastened towards the archway to the locker room exit, getting there just as Malfoy appeared at the other side.

When he saw her, he stopped dead in his tracks. "What are you doing here?" He asked, his tone accusatory, wary, and puzzled all at the same time.

Hermione took a deep breath. "I had to talk to you about yesterday," she began.

He looked uncomfortable. "Granger," he said slowly, "maybe it's not such a good idea that we—"

"Well, well, look what we have here…what's going on, Malfoy?" The former Slytherins had just made it to the archway and were glancing back and forth between Malfoy and Hermione with sly expressions.

Malfoy's eyes closed in frustration and he was gripping his broom tightly enough to coax sap from the wooden handle. "Leave off, Zabini," he said through clenched teeth.

"No, I don't think so." Blaise Zabini stepped in between Malfoy and Hermione with a devious sneer. The rest of the team was snickering and jeering from behind. Hermione took a step backwards; she was terribly outnumbered. Blaise looked Malfoy directly in the eye. "I never would have thought it of you, Malfoy," he said, as he shook his head at him.

"What?" Malfoy managed in a choleric tone.

"For _you_, of all people to go slumming it with a mud—"

_POW!_

Quicker than lightning, Malfoy had punched Zabini in the mouth with such force that it knocked him to the ground. Hermione gasped in disbelief. "Aaargh!" Zabini was moaning, "I think you knocked a tooth lose Malfoy; you'll pay for that!" His lip was split and he was bleeding profusely. Malfoy stood over him, his fists clenched in rage; Hermione was shocked into silence, and the rest of the team was staring at Malfoy in wide-eyed disbelief. Malfoy turned on them.

"Does anyone else have anything to say?" he blustered.

Without a word, the rest of the team dispersed; someone hauled Zabini up from off the ground, and within seconds the area was deserted, save for Malfoy and Hermione.

Hermione finally found the ability to speak. "You didn't have to do that," she breathed.

Malfoy hesitated for a moment; he seemed unsure of what to say. If Hermione didn't know better, she'd think that he looked self-conscious. He finally shrugged and straddled his broomstick. "Whatever, Granger; consider it a parting gift." And with that, he flew away.

"_He did what?"_ Ginny gasped in disbelief as she sat across from Hermione on the bed. They were back in the dormitory and Hermione was filling her in with the latest turn of events.

Hermione's eyes were downcast and she was toying with the comforter. Ginny flopped back onto the pillows and cradled her hands behind her head. "Punched out Zabini…I _never_ would have expected that! He must really care about you—what's the matter?" she asked, when she noticed Hermione's expression.

"Well, after that, he just took off. He wouldn't even let me explain what had happened outside The Three Broomsticks," Hermione added gloomily.

"Sounds like he really has his knickers in a knot over this whole thing...who would have thought…_Malfoy_…" Ginny mused.

"And now I don't know what to do," Hermione finished, flopping onto the comforter in frustration. She pulled a pillow over her head.

Ginny smacked the pillow. Hermione grunted in protest. "Do you think this is worth salvaging?" Ginny asked the pillow.

Hermione was silent for a moment. "Yes," she mumbled from underneath the pillow.

"Then you already know what you have to do."

Another few moments of silence passed as Hermione considered Ginny's words. Slowly, Hermione emerged from under the pillow with a determined look on her face. "You're right," she said. "And I think I have an idea."


	20. Determination

Chapter 20—Determination

A few hours later, Hermione made her way to Slughorn's office. Being as she and Malfoy had Potions the following day, Hermione knew that she needed a little help from the Professor in order to set her Plan into motion. However, this particular phase of The Plan called for some acting skills, something she was never very accomplished at. Being such an honest person, Hermione was a deplorable liar and she knew it. But it _had_ to be done. A vision of Malfoy's face (smirking devilishly, of course) swam in front of her as she reached the office door, and she knew it would be worth the trouble. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

Professor Slughorn answered the door with a surprised look on his face. "Miss Granger, I wasn't expecting you. Is everything all right?"

"Yes, Professor, I mean _no_…no, actually it's not. May I talk to you?"

"Certainly. Please come inside."

Hermione entered the office and sat in the chair that she had occupied the last time she and Malfoy were there. _Merlin, I am becoming familiar with teachers' offices!_ Hermione thought. _This can't be a good sign._ Slughorn sat down in a large armchair directly across from her.

"Professor Slughorn, I need your help," Hermione began.

"Well, of course, Miss Granger, if there's anything I can do…"

"There is. He would be furious with me if he knew I was here…especially if he knew what I was about to tell you…" She wrung her hands for dramatic effect.

Slughorn was intrigued. He leaned forward in his chair. "Who is this 'he' that you're referring to?"

"Draco Malfoy. You know how he idolizes you, Professor," Hermione watched his chest puff up with pride. "The last thing he wants you to know is how much he's struggling with Potions. He's afraid to ask for help, being a Prefect and all, but as Head Girl I feel it's my duty to make sure that he gets the help he needs." Ironically, Malfoy had given her the idea. She had watched the way he had played Slughorn and turned a detention into a potential tutoring session with some simple flattery. Surely, she could accomplish as much.

"Absolutely. But I had no idea Mr. Malfoy was having such a difficult time." His brow furrowed in consternation.

"He hasn't been himself since the War, I suppose. His ability to concentrate just isn't there." Slughorn nodded, as if to say, _of course_. She continued, "I know that the last thing he wants if for everyone to find out what a tough time he's having. I thought that surely you would know what to do…" She looked at Slughorn with a wide-eyed, helpless expression. She hoped she wasn't overdoing it.

Apparently she wasn't. "Miss Granger, perhaps we should make sure that you are partners with Mr. Malfoy in Potions for a while. Not only are you the best student in your year, you are also the only student who is informed of his situation. This will keep others from finding out, and working with you should hopefully boost his class performance."

This was working out exactly as Hermione had planned. "Professor, I do feel compelled to warn you, Malfoy probably won't be very enthusiastic about being partnered with me...he's very self-conscious about his...problem." Hermione hoped she wasn't about to get hit by a bolt of lightning after that whopper of a lie.

Slughorn leaned forward and patted her hand. "Don't worry, Miss Granger. Leave everything up to me."

The next morning Hermione, sluggish after another restless night, made it to Potions just before Professor Slughorn entered the classroom. She had barely settled into her seat in the front row when the Professor emerged and informed the class that today they would be beginning a long-term Potions project. "This work is going to be excruciatingly detailed and precise; therefore, I think it best that I assign you partners in order for all of you to work in the most efficient manner possible." Slughorn was saying.

Hermione sat up straight in her seat. This was her chance—she would have Malfoy as a captive audience! _Thank you, thank you, Professor Slughorn,_ she thought gratefully.

Slughorn began to read off the names of the partners he had assigned and naturally, he had partnered Hermione with Malfoy. Trembling with anticipation, she quickly gathered up her things and headed towards the back of the room where Malfoy sat at his usual table, alone.

He was leaning back in his seat, one arm thrown over the back of his chair and a foot arrogantly propped up onto the table. His eyes were on her as she made her way towards his table and dropped her bookbag on top of it, but his expression was unreadable. Without a word, she pulled out a chair and sat down next to him.

They worked in silence for a while; Hermione dicing up the roots and leaves of several ingredients that Slughorn had listed on the blackboard, while Malfoy added them one by one to the cauldron and diligently stirred the potion. Eventually, the silent treatment became too much for Hermione, and she decided to end it.

"Why won't you talk to me?" she began, under her breath.

"Look Granger, I might have made a slip outside The Three Broomsticks, but that doesn't change the fact that you and the Weasel King were getting mighty chummy when I came by," he muttered back.

"Why don't you trust me?" she countered softly.

"I don't trust anybody," he said as he continued to stir.

"Yes, but I'm not _anybody_," she pressed, her voice starting to rise.

"Miss Granger, is anything wrong back there?" Slughorn was anxiously watching them at the back of the room. Apparently he was still a bit nervous about them being paired together, being as they had been the source of several mishaps already.

Hermione immediately felt guilty about distressing Slughorn—after all, he was unwittingly helping her with her Plan—so she began to sort through the list of ingredients and neatly divide them up into subcategories. For a while, she and Malfoy continued to work together in silence. Then, when Hermione thought it was safe, she tried again.

"Ron and I are just friends," she began again in a low tone as she chopped up some juniper leaves.

"That's not what it looked like," he mumbled as he added another ingredient to the steaming concoction.

Hermione was becoming frustrated. "Honestly!" she huffed, "For your information, I had just broken the news to him and we were coming to terms about it."

"Was that before or after you declared your undying love for him?"

Hermione laid down her knife. She figured it wasn't a good idea for her to be holding one while Malfoy was being so vexing. "Listen here, Malfoy, I'm allowed to love my friends, whether you like it or not. That's not going to change."

"That's your problem, Granger," Malfoy said as he stirred in the ingredient that he had added to the potion. "You don't want anything to change. You want to stay in your safe little world with your safe little friends and your safe little rules…"

"Is that what you think?" Hermione was so incensed she had a hard time keeping her voice down, but somehow she managed to do it.

"Am I speaking Gobbledegook or something? Yeah, that's exactly what I think." he shot back, just low enough to not be overheard.

"Safe, am I? We'll see about that." Angered beyond reason, Hermione stood up and went directly over to the storage cabinet, under the ruse that they needed more supplies for their potion. She searched through the cabinet until she saw what she needed, tucked it into her pocket and headed back towards their table.

Malfoy was ignoring her as he continued to stir the potion. Hermione pulled the herb that she had gotten out of the storage cabinet out of her pocket and held it over the cauldron. "You can stop stirring. I have one more thing I need to add."

His eyes narrowed as he saw the ingredient she held in her hand, threateningly suspended over the cauldron. "You wouldn't dare," he challenged in a low tone.

"_Watch me,"_ she said recklessly, and dropped it into the cauldron.

_**KA-BOOM!**_


	21. Dénouement

Chapter 21—Dénouement

Moments later, Hermione and Malfoy sat outside of the Headmistress' office, awaiting Professor McGonagall's return. They were side by side on a bench, and both looked as if they had been hit by a bolt of lightning. They were covered in soot from head to toe, and Malfoy's hair was as bushy as Hermione's had been—frizzy and standing up on end, as if he had stuck his finger in an electrical socket. Hermione's hair, on the other hand, was twice as bushy as it was before, and that was truly saying something.

There had been so much chaos as a result of the explosion that poor Professor Slughorn, completely overwrought, barely managed to choke out the word, "Headmistress," and wildly gestured in the general direction of McGonagall's office. This resulted in them sitting together in silence and awaiting the inevitable.

The wheels in Hermione's head were spinning as she tried to evaluate the situation. _Why did I just do that? Am I going to get expelled? Is Draco ever going to speak to me again? Should I even_ want _him to?_ Her fit of paranoia was interrupted by Malfoy as he began to chuckle beside her.

She frowned at him. "What's so funny?"

"Hermione Granger, Miss Big Shot Head Girl Extraordinaire just blew up the entire Potions dungeon! Look at us, for Merlin's sake," he snickered as he gestured to her newly acquired afro.

Hermione self-consciously brought a hand up to her hair. "Well, I had to get your attention _somehow_," she grumbled.

"Yeah, right. I always knew there was a firecracker lurking behind that goody two-shoes demeanor of yours, Granger." He leaned back and folded his hands behind his head, a smug grin playing at the corners of his mouth. He was obviously enjoying the fact that she had risked her good standing at Hogwarts and her position as Head Girl, things that mattered a great deal to her, just to get his attention.

Hermione felt compelled to defend her position. "You said I wanted to stay in my safe little world and I wanted to show you that it wasn't true."

He smirked. "I guess not." They sat together in silence for another minute.

Malfoy leaned forward, forearms resting on his thighs. He was staring straight ahead, rubbing his hands together in a restless fashion and looking slightly uncomfortable. "I'm sorry about calling you a…a…" he blurted out, but was unable to finish the sentence. "I didn't mean it."

Hermione gave a tiny smile. "I know." She heard him let out a slow breath. She looked over at him. "But don't ever do it again," she added in a serious tone. "I almost lost faith in you."

He looked back at her and held her gaze. "Almost?"

"Almost. Not quite." There was a slight pause and Hermione gave him a tart little smile. "But you _are_ a right foul git."

Malfoy smirked back. "I aim to please."

"Your aim is quite good. Especially where Zabini's concerned."

Malfoy snorted and together they sat in silence for another minute.

"Draco," Hermione broke into the silence, "you told me to never to lie to you, and I haven't. I know it must be hard for you to trust after what you've been through—" At this, Malfoy dropped his gaze. Life with the Death Eaters must have been a living nightmare. "—but I intend to keep every promise I ever make to you. Ron and I have been through hell together; we risked our lives for each other many times and I'll always have strong feelings for him, but the bottom line is that I'm not interested in Ron, not in that way. I'm only interested in _you_ in that way."

He looked over at her and quirked an eyebrow, a devilish grin once again playing at the corners of his mouth. "Oh? And what way would that be?"

She blushed furiously. "You know what I mean. Ron's just my friend," In her self-consciousness, she began nervously babbling. "I wouldn't want to…you know…I just don't feel that way about…"

"Really?" Malfoy drawled, leaning back and slipping an arm around the back of the bench, behind Hermione's shoulders.

He had leaned in close and that was making her heart pound even more rapidly, but there was one last point she needed to address. "But seriously, Draco, in order for this to work, you're going to have to learn to trust me."

His silver-blue eyes held her dark brown ones as he nodded slowly. "All right, Granger, I get it." His other hand came up to twine a finger in one of her impossibly frizzy curls. "Here's the deal: I'll agree to trust you if you'll agree to shut up already so that I can kiss you."

Hermione fought to keep a huge grin from breaking out on her face. "Shut up? I go through all _that_ so I can get the chance to explain myself, and now you want me to _shut up_?" Now that they were back on good terms she deliberately baited him, knowing how much he enjoyed the banter. "Well, isn't that a fine cauldron of—" He cut her off mid-sentence with a passionate kiss.

She kissed him back thoroughly, delighting in the feel, the taste, the very essence of him. He was arrogant, he was infuriating, and he was hotheaded, but he was all hers. She felt more alive than she ever had in her entire life, even though she had wanted to strangle him mere moments ago. But that was the way it always was with Malfoy. He brought her to life and made her experience every emotion with blinding intensity, and that was why she belonged with him. As he ran his hand through her hair, she knew that there was nowhere else in the world that she would rather be.

"_Miss Granger! Mr. Malfoy!"_ McGonagall's voice screeched in a shocked tone from behind them.

She pulled back from him slightly and smiled impishly. "So is _this_ what life with you is going to be like?"

He smirked back at her. "Welcome to my world, Granger. Never a dull moment." And together, they turned to face Professor McGonagall.

THE END

**And there you have it…this was my first fanfic and it will always hold a special place in my heart. If you enjoyed reading it even half as much as I did writing it, then my mission has been accomplished. This fanfic became part of a series—my "Hogwarts series"—so if you are interested enough to want more, I will start posting chapters for the sequel (**_**Hogwarts Redux**_**) tomorrow. Thank you to all who have loyally followed this story and an extra special thank you to those who were kind enough to leave me reviews. I hope to hear from you again over **_**Hogwarts Redux!**_

**Also, I wanted to mention that I've been working on a project with another fanfic author—a private forum where we'll be posting not only all of our fanfiction but also the original stuff I've been working on, including material from the Original Novel I've almost finished. Basically, all of my work, including material that has never been posted before will be there (no waiting), and it will be accessible via membership. So if you're interested in accessing more of my current material, please PM me for early membership. Thanks! :)**

**Purpleheart72 xo**


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